Bonds: Together We Fight
by jean010
Summary: Becoming a Pokemon Master has always been Ash's dream, however such a dream could only be considered impossible for almost everyone. But when one fated meeting occurs earlier than expected maybe now a dream like that wasn't as impossible as it sounded. AshX?
1. Prologue

"Ash" Normal Speech

'Greninja' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **[Pokedex]** Pokedex entries

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

 **Prologue**

 **The Battle for One's Dreams**

 _Kanto, Indigo Stadium_

"Ladies and Gentlemen I think I speak for everyone when I say that so far this has been one of, if not the greatest spectacle that this battlefield has ever witnessed!" a man's voice resounded in the whole stadium, earning a deafening cheer that could probably be heard miles away from the stadium.

"But this is far from over people! The climax of the battle is about to come and the question still remains: Will Kanto get a new Champion?!" even more cheers erupted from the crowd, which was filling the whole arena to the brim.

It wasn't honestly that surprising, considering how much of an historic moment this day could become and the reason for that being the two trainers that were right now facing each other, each one on his own side of the field.

On one stood an imposing figure that looked to be on his late twenties. Black clothes with red highlights covered his body, with him also having spiky red hair and brown eyes; however his most striking part must be the black cape he was wearing, being moved by the wind.

His eyes expressed nothing but focus and seriousness, however for those that knew the man personally they could be able to tell you that there was something else there, a sense of enjoyment that trainers of his level only showed when they were pushed to their limits.

And boy was his opponent doing that just now. A small smile appeared on his face, even if the outcome of this battle didn't end on his favor he couldn't deny how this was probably the greatest battle he ever had, only matching the one he had many years ago in this very place, to obtain the very same title he was now defending.

That didn't mean he was going to go easy, such a thing didn't exist now after all.

Just in front of him, standing inside of the marked arena was a majestic beast. _Powerful_ would be the perfect word to describe the creature, his wings moving slightly as well as his tail, his eyes also sporting a fiery determination that mirrored the one of his master and partner.

These two were of course none other than Lance, Dragon Master and current Champion of the Pokemon League of both the region of Kanto and Jhoto, and his loyal and strongest partner Dragonite.

However, while the sight of the Dragon trainer was definitely something to never scoff at, there wasn't a doubt on anyone's head that the current star of the show was none other than the fourteen year old teen standing right at the opposite side of the field, his eyes glued to the passed out form of one of his strongest team members that now resided on his arms.

Said young man had spiky black hair and clear brown eyes, a blue zipped up jacket with white highlights over a black shirt covering his torso, while he also sported grey long pats and red shoes. A red hat with white details also rested over his head, his hand also covered with black fingerless gloves. Besides that the only other thing worth mentioning was the strange looking bracelet that he had on his right arm.

However right now his eyes were clued to the small creature that resided on his arms, a small yellow mouse to be precise, his eyes showing nothing but concern and pride for the unconscious little fellow.

"I couldn't have asked for a better friend to start my journey with" the teen said, a small sad smile appearing on his lips "You did your best, Pikachu, now lets us handle the rest"

With that the black-haired youth slowly rested the electric type down, using his backpack, which was already on the ground, as a bed for him.

This young man was none other than Ash Ketchum, aspiring Pokemon Master, and someone that knew that he was just from one victory to finally complete that dream.

His eyes went from Pikachu to his opponent, Lance being without a doubt the toughest one he had ever faced to date, which was saying a lot considering this wasn't his first time facing a Champion. His eyes shinned with determination, his hands clenching into fists as he took slow calming breaths, doing his best to zone out the cheers of the crowd.

He couldn't get distracted now, too much was on stake. It was all of nothing he knew, not only for him but also for everyone that had supported him and for his Pokemon that had stood with him for years already.

He wasn't going to lose.

"Challenger Ash, please choose you next Pokemon!" The referee said for the whole stadium to hear.

Just then Ash closed his eyes and released a quivering breath. He knew he shouldn't let nerves get him like this but it wasn't easy. His hand moved to his belt, retrieving a small sphere.

Lance narrowed his eyes at the sight. He knew that the real battle was about to become, as just like he had Dragonite he knew that his opponent also had his own ace.

Ash suddenly opened his eyes, determination as bright as a smoldering flame shining on them while he looked at the Pokeball in hand. They had been through so much together, as even if Pikachu had been his _starter_ , this one was truly his first Pokemon.

And of course it was only appropriated for them to reach their dreams together in one last battle.

So with a mighty throw he released the Pokeball, watching as the Pokemon that resided in it was released, a sight that he couldn't be more used to by now.

It was now time to show the world just how strong they really were.

"Let's do this, Greninja!"

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _A few moments later_

"This leaves them both on their last Pokemon…" with a grim voice a tall man, who looked to be on his early twenties, said, his squinted eyes focused on the sight of his best friend down in the arena.

"Geez really? I wouldn't have noticed it" another voice said in a sarcastic tone just besides him, this one sounding much younger. This just got an annoyed look from the older man, however he had no time to retort as another voice interrupted them.

"Would you two stop fighting for just a second?!" this time it was a feminine voice that snapped at the two, earning a grunt from both guys.

"Sorry…" Gary Oak said, his eyes shifting from his side to the arena in which his formed rival was having the most important battle of his life.

"No problem, I understand" on the other hand Brock just waved the apologize of, knowing just how tense everyone was right now

"Good!" the girl, a fellow Gym leader of Kanto just like Brock, only that she specialized on Water types, said "Besides don't forget who Ash has yet to use. Those two are unstoppable when they fight together"

This group of people was sitting on what could be considered the VIP section of the stadium, which pretty much were just the seats closest to the actual arena.

Of course they weren't just those three, no, after all if there was one quality that everyone agreed Ash had was his ability to become friends with pretty much everyone he knew.

Just besides Misty, and behind Brock and Gary, sat two other girls, both of them had their eyes glued towards the boy that they had traveled with together, one for months and the other one for at least a year already.

Serena Yvonne and May Mapple stared with worry, frowns present on their faces. They knew that this battle was everything for Ash now, and they wanted nothing more than to see him win.

"Ash has come a long way…" an older voice said, earning everyone's attention. It wasn't rare to be honest, considering how important Professor Samuel Oak was "It honestly feels like just yesterday when I gave him that egg… to think that he would come this far…" then he looked at the woman sitting to his right "You should be truly proud of your son, Delia"

"Believe me Professor, I couldn't be more proud of my boy right now" Ash's mother said with a proud smile. To think her own son had reached the point in which he was now facing the Champion of their region.

She always knew that if someone could accomplish such a dream as big as become a Pokemon Master it was her son, she never doubted that.

"I have never seen a Pokemon as strong as that Dragonite" another one that had once traveled with Ash said, trying to be optimistic as everyone else but finding it hard, even if he knew just how strong Ash really was.

"Don't get all pessimistic on me now, Tracy!" It was Misty the one that spoke again with a huff "Besides once Ash and Greninja get rolling even that Dragonite won't stand a chance" then she looked at the girls by her side "Right? Serena, May?"

However it was as if the two girls were in their own little world, their eyes still glued to Ash, who was now putting Pikachu down.

At seeing this Misty just let a sigh, knowing that at this point they just weren't going to listen.

"I wonder how much of that is you just wanting a Water Pokemon to be the one defeating Lance's strongest dragon…" Gary muttered, looking at the girl with a deadpanned expression.

"What did you just say?!" This of course got a glare from said girl.

"N-nothing"

"That's what I thought"

"Guys" this time it was Brock that stopped them from fighting "It looks like it's about to start"

As soon as he said that everyone in the group focused on the sight in front of them, and even May and Serena looked even more concentrated, almost as if they were trying to send a message towards the black-haired teen with their minds.

There was no doubt in what that message would be though.

'You can do it, Ash!'

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Back with Ash_

"Let's do this, Greninja!"

And with a flash of light the Pokeball opened, the being inside appearing in the air just before landing on the ground in a crouch, using three of his limbs as support while the other arm was extended to the side.

The dual Water/Dark type Pokemon eyed his opponent for just a second before looking back to his trainer, his eyes also trailing towards the resting Pikachu, his gaze narrow a little bit at the sight.

"Let's go, partner" his trainer, best friend and partner said to him, earning a swift nod from the Kalos starter, who went back to face directly at the mighty Dragon/Flying type on the other side of the field.

"Then let's end this once and for all, Ash Ketchum!" Lance announced with a swing of his arm, his cape following his movement, Dragonite mirroring his trainer with a mighty roar "Dragonite use Dragon Claw!"

If there was one thing that you could call Lance's Dragonite, it was fast, since as soon as he heard the command the orange beast flapped his wings and dashed at an astounding speed towards his target, his right claw covered in dark blue energy.

However he wasn't the fastest Pokemon in the field.

"Jump!" it might seem like a simple enough order, but for Greninja that was all that he needed.

A soon as Dragonite got into range he slashed straight at the frog, but in just a split second Greninja was already in the air, spinning his body to move behind Dragonite.

"Follow with Ice Beam!"

"Take the skies Dragonite!"

As fast as he could Greninja shot a torrent of ice straight from his mouth, but Lance had made his move too, knowing that an ice attack like that would be devastating for his Pokemon.

The ice ended up hitting the ground below Dragonite as the dual Dragon/Flying type shot straight upwards, avoiding the hit.

"Water Shuriken!"

With an affirmative grunt water formed itself on Greninja's webbed hands. It took less than a couple of seconds for the water to gain the form of stars, and even less for Greninja to throw them towards the flying Dragonite.

"Don't let him hit you!" Lance of course wasn't going to let the projectiles reach the dragon "Dodge them and use Dragon Claw to destroy them!"

The sky was truly Dragonite's territory, and it showed as he maneuvered out of the way of the shurikens moving towards him. For the few that he wasn't able to dodge he simply blocked them with his claws, pretty much nullifying the damage.

"With that distance… there isn't much we can do right now except…" Ash muttered, his eyes going from Dragonite to his partner "Greninja get ready!"

Just as he heard that the Kalos starter stopped his barrage of attacks, both of his webbed hands coming together in which some people would recognize as a hand-sign.

This action made Lance's eyes narrow. He didn't know what his opponent was planning, but he wasn't going to let him do it.

"Dragonite use Extreme Speed!" the Champion ordered, watching as the dragon's body gained a small silver aura just before he moved at least twice as faster than before, directly down towards the Greninja.

Not even a fast Pokemon like him would be able to dodge something like that.

And just like Lance predicted Dragonite's body slammed straight at Greninja, who hadn't even made an attempt at dodging.

In fact the frog didn't even cry in pain or anything, something that send alarms on Lance's head, his eyes widening as a sudden thought appeared on his head.

His suspicion was confirmed once a second later _Greninja_ dissolved in nothing but smoke.

"Dammit it was a Substitute! Dragonite watch out!" However Lance's warning came too late, as the real Greninja seemingly materialized from Dragonite's very own shadow, a completely black kunai residing on his hand.

"Night Slash now!" Ash's order was met with an upward slash from Greninja, the weapon on his hand meeting Dragonite's back in a swift but powerful motion.

"Push him back with Dragon Tail!" even Dragonite's roar of pain didn't distract the Champion, although he cursed himself on his head for making such a mistake.

"Grab him!" Ash also barked out his command, making Greninja pretty much hug Dragonite's tail as soon as it met his body, a gasp of pain escaping the Water/Dark type by the impact, while the Dragonite made growl of annoyance.

"Shake him off quickly!" the Champion knew just how dangerous the current condition could be, but Greninja didn't let got for even a second as Dragonite thrashed him around, determination pouring from his very being.

"Now Ice Beam!" this was the moment Ash had been waiting for, and as soon as he saw the opportunity he took it. Greninja suddenly let go as one of Dragonite's tail swings took him to the air, his hands in front of his mouth as the beam of ice shot out of it, this time its target having no chance of dodging it.

To say that that the attack had hurt the dual Dragon/Flying type would have been an understatement, as he released a massive roar of pain, the attack actually sending him backwards towards his trainer, while Greninja landed as gracefully as he could on the other side of the field.

Ash smiled at seeing this, knowing how much an ice attack would damage a Pokemon like Dragonite. Just by landing that their victory seemed so close he could almost feel it.

However those high hopes were washed away once he saw Lance's face. He expected a worried or even a panicked expression, but the only thing he got was an impassive one, a glint on the man's eyes telling him that this was far from over.

It was definitely confirmed once Dragonite stood up, dusting the remains of ice out of his body. You could pretty full feel the _anger_ oozing of from the Kanto Pokemon, the orange dragon sporting such a threatening glare that actually made Ash gulp a little bit in fear.

"I'll admit that you got us there, Ash" Lance suddenly spoke, his voice somehow sounding over the entire stadium, the multitude of people watching looking at the scene with rapt attention "However if you think that will be enough to win then… maybe the title of fool would suit you better"

Ash's just gritted his teeth in frustration, not being able to say anything as he knew the man was right. This battle was far from over; he couldn't get over-confident just because he landed a few hits. No, the only moment in which he could celebrate victory was once that Dragonite was completely defeated.

Sadly for him Lance's next order just made it even harder.

"Dragon Dance" he didn't even yell, he just gave the command with a tone of finality, intending to show the young trainer in front of him their real power, and just how big was the difference between a Champion and the rest of the Elites Ash had defeated already.

With a mighty roar Dragonite was covered in dark blue energy, an aura of power covering his body. The ancient power of a dragon cursed through his whole body, and he was more than ready to unleash it.

And Lance was more than happy to oblige.

"Dragon Claw!" Dragonite shot like a missile towards Greninja, the speed being so much that both trainer and Pokemon released an unintentional gasp.

"Dodge it quickly!" Ash ordered, and no one could say Greninja hadn't tried, but before he was actually able to do anything Dragonite was already on him, the back of his paw slamming straight at Greninja's torso, sending the Kalos starter flying to the side with a cry of pain.

"Don't let him go Dragonite!"

"Greninja meet him with Night Slash!"

The frog did his best to make a good landing, a black kunai appearing on his hand as soon as he did. He moved it in front of his body, just in time to meet Dragonite's claw in a struggle of power.

However it was more than obvious who the winner there was.

With a mighty push Dragonite broke Greninja's weapons, the Water/Dark type having no time to react as Dragonite's claw buried itself on his stomach with ruthless strength just for the dragon to throw him on the opposite direction a second later.

"Greninja!" Ash yelled in panic, the whole crowd also gasping at the sight.

"If this is as far as your strength goes…" Lance talked just as Dragonite landed close to him, apparently giving both Ash and Greninja a time off "then maybe this is as far as you go, Ash Ketchum… you might have defeated the other Kanto Elites, but a Champion needs more than just that!"

Ash's whole body was trembling, Lance's words hitting him deep in his heart. Was this really as far as they could go? Had all of their hard work and sacrifice being for nothing? No! That couldn't be, he had promised himself and his Pokemon that they would reach the top together but just now the difference in strength between Lance and him felt too damn big.

" **Grahhh!"** however if Ash had any doubts they were swept away as soon as he heard his partner's call, his brown eyes meeting the ones of Greninja, who was giving him a stare that he recognized perfectly, it was after all not the first time that he had seen that.

Greninja was pretty much asking him if he was so weak that he would just give up like this.

"What the hell is wrong with me…" Ash muttered, his eyes never leaving Greninja's "How can I call myself a trainer if I just give up here, after everything our friends did to reach this far…"

Just the thought of giving up at this point would do nothing but disrespect what his other Pokemon had done to help him accomplish his dream, how could he have been so selfish? They all had done even better than he had expected, and yet here he was, having a crisis just because of some words his opponent was sprouting.

Misty was right, he was really still just a kid.

His Sceptile had faced Lance's Flygon to get them here.

Snorlax had overpowered Lance's Altaria just to help him reach this far.

His Mawile had battled Aerodactyl head on.

Pikachu had put himself to his limits just to beat Lance's Red Gyrados

And Charizard had showed everyone who was the strongest dragon as he matched Lance's Salamance, both Pokemon being boosted beyond their limits by the power of Mega Evolution.

And now Greninja was doing his best to keep up with Dragonite, just as he had done so plenty of times before whenever they faced someone stronger than them.

He couldn't let them down.

He wouldn't.

"Don't underestimate us, Lance!" Ash suddenly yelled, shocking the crowd, even those that knew the young man personally.

" **Gekkooo!"** even Greninja let out a scream as he stood up, even if his whole body ached in pain he wasn't going to stop until that Dragonite was out.

"Let me show you just how strong we really are!" and it was as soon as Ash declared those words that something inside him clicked. It was something that he was used to it by now, but even then the surge of power that swept through his body was something that always impressed him.

And just like that a torrent of water suddenly formed itself around Greninja, the vortex shutting upwards in such a show of power that even Lance released a small gasp, his eyes going wide for just a second before a small exited smile formed in his lips.

"So this is the strength you kept warning me about, Steven…" he muttered before raising his voice "It looks like the real battle if about to start, right Dragonite?"

In response the Dragon just left out a puff of smoke followed by a nod, eyeing the vortex of water with anticipation.

It took a few more seconds but then the vortex suddenly disappeared in a small explosion, water raining out everywhere in the ring, revealing quite a sigh to be beheld.

A changed Greninja stood on the middle of swirling water, red and black highlights now covering some of his torso and head. Just then the swirl of water condensed itself on Greninja's back, taking the shape of a massive X.

To say that the crowd was left speechless would be an understatement. No one there knew what just had happened, even those that were considered experts when it came to Pokemon were left shocked by the sight.

Even the people watching the battle in their houses were left in awe at the transformation. The whole world was watching this battle, after all it wasn't every day that a trainer managed to defeat all the members of the Elite 4 and then challenge the Champion.

A historic moment indeed.

"We refuse to lose, so bring your best, Lance!" Ash declared as the newly transformed Greninja entered in position, a black kunai, looking even more deadly than before, already forming in his hand.

"Then let the real battle start now!" and with that both Dragonite and Greninja dashed at each other, their objectives being the same.

To become the victor.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Just before, in another part of the Stadium_

"Hm, Lance isn't pulling any of his punches, is he?" an old woman said, her eyes trailing the battle below her as she sat in an special area that only VIP members could access.

"Of course not" a muscular man said beside her with a gruff voice "Doing so would be nothing but disrespect both his own Pokemon and his opponent"

"Still…" This time it was a younger woman, looking to be on her mid twenties, the one that spoke "Do you think that young Ash even has a chance?" even if said young man had actually defeated them all, Lance was on a whole different level than even them.

"You'll be surprised by what that kid can do" a voice from behind the three said, earning their attentions, their eyes widening as soon as they saw who it was "Agatha, Lorelei, Bruno, pleasure to see you all again"

"Mr. Stone!" It was Lorelei the one that reacted first, quickly standing up from her seat to greet the Champion of Hoehn properly. However this just earned a chuckle from the silver-haired trainer

"Please just Steven will be fine; Mr. Stone is my father after all" the man said with a smile, his eyes meeting the ones of the Kanto Elites before going straight to the field below him "Quite the spectacle, isn't it?"

"So the rumors were true then?" Agatha said, eyeing the silver-haired man with curiosity and respect "You really did took that boy under your wing"

At hearing that Steven just shook his head, an even bigger smile forming on his lips.

"I just put him on the right track" he answered, to which he earned a raised eyebrow from the Ghost expert "It was the least I could do" however she did not gain the explanation she was expecting.

"It was you who gave him the bracelet though, weren't you?" Bruno asked while crossing his arms over his chest, remembering just how much power that boy's Charizard gained once it Mega Evolved.

"Maybe…" the man answered cryptically once again just before releasing a small chuckle "He found that stone all by himself though" his eyes then widened as soon as he saw what was about to happen in the battlefield, his surprised expression drawing everyone's else eyes to what was currently happening to Greninja.

"What's going on?" Lorelei muttered in shock, confused as to what she was seeing.

Steven's last comment didn't help her confusion either.

"It looks like we're about to see history in the making"

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile with Ash's friends_

"What the hell?!" Gary couldn't help but to say, utterly shocked by what he was seeing. Whatever transformation Greninja had went through was definitely something he had never seen on his life. It wasn't Mega evolution that was for sure, but then what was it?

Even Professor Oak, who thought that he couldn't be surprised by anything Pokemon-related at by now, had his eyes wide in shock at the sight.

Their confusion was increased once they heard May muttered something loud enough for everyone there to hear.

"Ash-Greninja… they're really going all out" May said with a worried frown, knowing both how strong that form was but also how risky it could be.

"Wait, you know what that is?" Serena asked in shock, her eyes now on May.

"I-I, well" May stuttered, knowing that she should have kept quiet about it, specially by the looks everyone was giving her "I can't say, Ash made me promise not to!" she finished while lowering her head.

"What? Why?!" Misty asked confused. Why would he want to keep a secret like that?

However judging by the guilty look May had on her face it was obvious it was because of something big.

"I'm sorry but… I can't" May just muttered again, not wanting to betray Ash's trust by telling them of the side-effects of the transformation.

She just hoped this didn't last for too long. She knew just how dangerous this could be. She still remembers the last time she saw the result of it.

Her heart couldn't bear to see it again.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Back in the field_

"Greninja use Night Slash!"

"Dragonite match him with Dragon Claw!"

Both Pokemon met at the center of the field, Dragonite sweeping his claw as soon as he reached Greninja, however in a show of superior speed the Water/Dark dual type ducked under the attack just before slashing at the dragon with his own weapon.

However Dragonite was no slouch, as he quickly parried the attack with his other claw.

Each slash of claw what met with a slash of the kunai, both Pokemon matching eachother perfectly, neither of them letting the other gain even a slight advantage over the other.

However both of their trainers knew that this couldn't continue for much long.

"Dragonite use Thunderbolt!"

"Cut his vision Greninja!"

Sparks suddenly appeared around Dragonite's antennas on his head, however just before he was able to launch the attack Greninja threw a small object right at his face, said object suddenly exploting, creating a massive curtain of black smoke.

Dragonite shook his head and launched the attack; however he wasn't even able to land it as he was trapped inside the smoke, now allowing to see properly.

Lance too was unable to see properly, and in any other situation Ash would have been in the same predicament; however in the current state he shared with Greninja such a thing wasn't a problem to him.

"Dragonite fly out of there!"

The dragon listened and was about to follow the order, but a sudden slash to his side stopped him. He turned around; expecting to face his current opponent, but the only thing he got was another slash on the opposite side.

This time he didn't even bother and just flew upwards, escaping the cloud of smoke. His eyes then trailed below him, trying to find his opponent as he was hidden.

It was then than at least a dozen or so of shurikens made out of water came out from the black smoke, all of them aimed straight at Dragonite.

"Block them!" Lance had not expected that, as he hadn't heard Ash muttering any command, so his response came barely in time, with Dragonite using his arms to block the assault, each start hitting him with a watery explosion.

"Let's get rid of that distraction Dragonite. Use Extreme Speed on the middle!" the dragon swiftly moved, understanding his trainer's command, and with a burst of speed he landed roughly into the center of the cloud, the force if impact sending a shockwave of power strong enough to blow away the smoke.

"Dammit" Ash cursed as soon as he saw Greninja being revealed "Jump back!"

"Don't let him, use Extreme Speed!" Greninja tried his best to make distance between the two, but Dragonite's movement was simply too much for him, as the dragon once again slammed straight into Greninja's body, sending him flying backwards.

"Guh!" Ash grunted in pain, one of his hands going to his stomach. He knew how dangerous this technique was, but it was all or nothing right now.

He could already picture May yelling him for doing something so reckless, alongside Misty and Serena once they figured it out, and let's not even start with his mom, he would probably be grounded for the rest of his life.

Greninja stood up, although a little bit shakily, his gaze falling into his trainer, knowing the consequences of battling like this.

"Don't worry buddy!" Ash assured his Pokemon with a thumbs up, even if it was obvious that he was in pain "Just focus on that Dragonite"

Greninja looked at his trainer for just an extra second before nodding, his gaze once again meeting Dragonite's, who looked more than ready to attack.

"Use Thunderbolt!"

"Match it with Ice Beam!"

Both Pokemon launched their respective attacks, electricity meeting ice in an impressive show of power that even left a little bit of mist right at the meeting point.

"Move with Extreme Speed and land the Dragon Claw!" Lance knew that he still had the upper hand when it came to close range, so with his order Dragonite shot like a missile, but Ash had seen this one coming, so he order came just as fast, if not faster.

"Shadow Sneak and follow with Night Slash!" with a movement Ash actually crouched, almost as if mirroring Greninja's very own movement, and as soon as Dragonite reached him the Water/Dark type actually sank into the ground like a living shadow, avoiding the attack, and appearing just behind the dragon.

That had been a mistake though.

"Thunderbolt in area, now!" Lance barked as Greninja's kunai slashed at Dragonite, the attack hitting the Dragon square on his back, but even so that didn't stop him from unleashing a shockwave of electricity around him, repealing Greninja as if he had been hit by a force field.

"D-don't stop, Ice Beam now!" Ash ordered, his whole body trembling

"You're too predictable…" Lance muttered, and as soon as he saw Greninja about to shoot his attack he gave what he thought would be his last order "Outrage!"

Greninja's icy beam was shot straight at Dragonite, but as soon as the dragon heard Lance's command it was as if a switch had been turned inside of him, for the dragon was completely covered in purple and dark yellow energy just before flying directly at Greninja's Ice Beam.

The attack landed, but if there was something that Lance knew was just how strong his Dragonite was.

Even if the attack was beyond effective on him, in his current condition… Greninja stood no chance.

Dragonite slammed directly into the Ice Beam, a roar escaping his mouth, although if it was from pain or rage it currently unknown, but that didn't stop him as he moved towards Greninja like a hunter going for his pray.

"Jump quickly!" Ash commanded, and Greninja followed swiftly with a jump that, in another situation, would have been enough to dodge the attack.

This was not that kind of situation though, for Dragonite suddenly shot upwards too, his claw clamping on Greninja's leg before he was able to get out of reach, getting a gasp from both Ash and Greninja.

The next thing both trainer and Pokemon felt was pain as Dragonite, with one mighty swing, slammed Greninja right into the ground.

Ash actually kneeled in pain, but his eyes refused to leave the battle.

"Make a Substitute!" Ash tried to command his Pokemon, but Dragonite was far from over. Just then the dragon threw Greninja into the air and with a spin he hit him with his own tail as if he was ball, sending the Kalos started flying right towards his trainer.

Said trainer couldn't even stand up now as he was now on his knees, his whole body trembling in pain, his vision hazy. He felt as if he would pass out at any second now, but not even for that did he took his eyes away from Greninja, said Pokemon lying on the ground in an even worse state than that of his trainer.

"C'mon Greninja… please" Ash whispered, refusing to let this end like this. They couldn't.

This couldn't be the end.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile_

"Ash!" May yelled, tears threatening to escape her eyes as she saw the state of both Greninja and Ash, knowing what was causing it. That was the reason she had begged Ash to never use that again, but she should have known better.

This needed to stop, it wasn't worth it, no title was worth if Ash got seriously hurt or even worse.

"What's happening to him?!" Serena asked, having no idea of the side effects that Greninja's transformation could 'cause "May answer me, what's happening?!"

However, just like the rest of the group, May had her eyes glued to the young man that had become so important for everyone of them.

Hell, the only reason Delia wasn't going down there to stop this was because of the hand Professor Oak had on her shoulder, after all it was obvious to everyone watching that it wasn't only Greninja the one in pain.

Their hearts and thoughts were al send to the struggling duo.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Back in the field_

"It's over" Lance declared, with Dragonite landing just in front of him. He didn't know what was happening to Ash, but he had the suspicious that it was related to Greninja's new form. He would have to ask for details later, but right now it was pretty much obvious who had won the battle.

He looked at the referee, who was looking between both trainers, and gave him a nod of finality

"Greninja can no-"

"Wait!"

However Ash's hoarse voice stopped the man right on his track, everyone now watching how not only the young man slowly, but surely, managed to stand up, but how he was followed by his last Pokemon.

"We… aren't done yet!" even though it was obvious that both Pokemon and trainer were at its limits, Ash voice managed to come as strong as possible.

"Part of being a trainer is knowing when to give up, both for your own sake and for your Pokemon" Lance lectured, honestly a little impress by the resolve both Ash and Greninja were showing "Your Pokemon could get seriously hurt if you let this continue… are you really alright with that?"

This was something Lance had to ask, after all there was no way he would let someone that didn't care for his Pokemon well being become a Champion.

"Of course I'm not…" Ash voice came out between ragged breaths "But…but how can I ask Greninja to give up now… when he still has so much fire inside of him" he finished with a tired smile, the crowd witnessing how slowly but surely Greninja once again entered in position, only that this time his free hand moved towards his back.

"I can't force him to give up, that wouldn't be fair…" Ash continued, his body actually mirroring Greninja's movements "That's why… We'll battle together to the very end!" at this the giant start on Greninja's back shinned in a blue color as Greninja removed it from his back, slowly but surely becoming bigger on his hand.

"That's just how we do stuff" and with those last words a swirl of water suddenly covered Greninja like a protective vortex.

"Then let me see that determination of yours!" Lance suddenly declared, honestly impressed by his opponent's will, but even so he knew that he would need more than that to just win.

"Greninja freeze the water!" with the command Greninja slammed his other hand on the massive shuriken he had, slowly but surely freezing it.

A plan had been formed in both of their heads, and it was all or nothing now.

"Finish him with Outrage!" Lance, already figuring out what they were thinking decided to put an end to this, knowing that they wouldn't be able to dodge another attack like that.

They wouldn't have to though.

Once again covered in raw power Dragonite flew directly towards Greninja, the Water/Dark dual type ready to meet him head on.

And so he did.

"Now Mat Block!" they had saved this for the end, knowing that once they used it Lance would prepare himself to counter it, but now it was the perfect time.

Dragonite slammed against Greninja, sending a cloud of smoke around them. The audience gasped, thinking that the frog was done, but once the cloud disappeared they were greeted by the sight of a struggling Greninja, using what looked like an actual carpet to keep Dragonite at bay, the dragon pushing against it with all of his strength.

"Dragonite break it with Dragon Claw!" Lance had not expected for Ash to save a move like that until the very end, but he wouldn't let such a thing beat him.

"Shadow Sneak to dodge!" Dragonite's claw went straight through Greninja's shield, however it never reached said Pokemon, as Greninja sank into his shadow, actually appearing over Dragonite's back just a second later.

"Thunderbolt again!"

"Jump!"

However before Dragonite was able to attack Greninja used the dragon's back to jump away from him, the strength of Greninja's leg push actually being enough to make the dragon lose balance.

It was time.

"Throw it Greninja!" Ash commanded just as his partner spun in the air right before throwing the ice shuriken straight at Dragonite, the massive shuriken flying like a missile, spinning so quickly that is almost looked like a beam.

"Block it with Dragon Claw!" knowing that there was no time dodge Lance gave his command, Dragonite making a jab with his claw straight at the flying start, however instead of breaking it like he expected the attack kept pushing against Dragonite's claw as the dragon growled, feeling the power behind the move.

Worse was yet to come though.

"Hydro Cannon!" with one last yell Ash gave his last order, the water surrounding Greninja suddenly focusing between both of his hands for just a second before a massive vortex of water was shot from Greninja's hand like a beam straight towards the struggling Dragonite.

"Dragonite move!" Lance ordered with wide eyes, being this the first time he had seen such a powerful water type move, however Dragonite was unable as the ice shuriken actually pushed him back, the Hydro Cannon meeting both struggling forces just a second later.

It was magnificent explosion of both water and ice as the whole area in which Dragonite had been in was covered in a thick mist, water falling everywhere as if it was raining, actually soaking both trainers and referee in the field.

Greninja's landing was less than gracious this time though, as the Pokemon, completely exhausted, felt face first straight into the ground, but even so he did his best to stand up, slowly and shakily, honestly looking as if even the wind would knock him out at this point.

But even so Ash couldn't have been more proud of being his trainer as the teen struggled to stay awake, just like his partner.

Everyone's eyes were on the mist, waiting to see the result of the last attack. Ash knew however, that they were in their last leg. He could tell, their bond made it so, that Greninja was only standing through sheer will power.

They had done their best. Greninja had done his best, so even if they ended up losing this was one battle they would never forget.

Even if they lost here he wouldn't give up on his dreams. Never, he had promised it to Greninja back when he was nothing but a small Froakie and he himself was nothing but a small kid, that they would reach the top together, even if it took their whole life.

However once the mist finally disappeared everyone was left with their eyes open wide, mouths hanging open as half of the stadium gasped.

Tears feel from the eyes of some of Ash's friends, his mother doing her best to stop the sob that threatened to escape.

The Elites watching were left speechless, not being able to believe what they were watching, while the Champion of Hoehn simply gave a proud smile.

Ash felt to his knees, everything around him feeling surreal right now. He had this dream plenty of this whenever he felt asleep, dreams of grandeur and recognition, but it was always just at this moment that he woke up.

This time however it was all real and the world itself released a massive cheer as soon as the next words were heard.

"Dragonite can no longer fight! The winner is Ash Ketchum!"

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 **Well this was fun to write. Honestly I just had to write this every since I got Pokemon Moon. Fantastic game, and it was one of the reasons I wrote this, the other ones being how much I liked the XYZ season of the anime and how much I enjoyed the whole Ash-Greninja concept, even though I understand why some might dislike it.**

 **Now this was just a test chapter, mostly to see if someone actually likes the idea. I might continue it if it does.**

 **I think it's pretty obvious but just in case yes, the timeline (if you could call it that) is different here. I won't go into details yet, but I will point out pretty much some key factors:**

 **1) Ash's first Pokemon was a Froakie that came from an egg that Professor Oak gave him when he was a child. More of this will be explained later.**

 **2) Ash has traveled through Kanto, Jhoto and Hoehn, but he has yet to go through Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos or Alola. Of course the events during his travel were different as it was implied in the chapter.**

 **3) Serena travels with Ash earlier than in canon.**

 **4) Ash has some different Pokemon, as it was implied in this chapter.**

 **Thank you for reading this**


	2. Worldwide News

"Ash" Normal Speech

'Greninja' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **[Pokedex]** Pokedex entries

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Worldwide News**

 _Hoenn, Petalburg City_

"He did it! Ash won! He did it, he did it!" such yells were heard through the house belonging to the Gym leader of Petalburg City, the sound coming from said leader's youngest child, a young boy with glassed called Max.

Said boy was pretty much jumping in front of the TV that he had been watching in the house's living room, nothing but excitement coming from him after not only seeing the most intense battle in his short life, but also at the fact that Ash, someone that he practically saw as the older brother he never had, was now the Champion of Kanto.

Boy did he wish he had been able to accompany his sister to the match.

"Well I'll be damn…" just behind him the father of the boy muttered, his widened eyes still glued at the screen that was focusing on the completely defeated Dragonite of the current, no, _former_ Champion of Kanto.

He knew Ash personally of course, as the young trainer had battled him and even earned his badge. He also knew that he had won the Indigo League years before coming to Hoenn, and that he was traveling through the region as a way to train before facing the Elites of Kanto.

It was hard not to know a lot of him when he was the only thing your only daughter spoke off.

But to think that the same kid that had faced him with a Grovyle was now the strongest trainer of a whole region… He honestly didn't know what to think.

He was happy of course, as he owed that kid a lot, after all not only had he helped his daughter find her true calling in Pokemon Contests, but he had pretty much mentored both her and Max.

"I guess now you can stop being so hung up over the loss against Ash, honey" Norman's wife, Caroline, said amusedly besides him, earning a confused stare from the man "After all there is no shame in loosing against a Champion of all things"

Norman groaned and rolled his eyes, and Max just kept jumping like a lunatic.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile in Unova, Opelucid City_

"You're going to catch flies if you don't close your mouth, Iris…" an amused old voice said, watching as the petite mocha-skinned girl just looked at the massive TV in front of her with her eyes wide open and her mouth pretty much hanging.

Then again, as Drayden amusedly noticed, she wasn't the only one looking like that, as pretty much every other student of his academy was left awed into silence by the fight that they had just seen.

Of course as soon as Drayden got the news that a trainer was challenging Lance, _The_ Dragon Master, he had made it his objective for everyone of the students of his academy to watch the match, after all it wasn't every day that such a legendary figure battled.

But the focus of the battle, at least for him and his students, had changed once the young man that had managed to reach Lance had actually managed to fight him on pair.

He doubted any of the kids around him had ever watched such an intense battle of wills.

Heck, they even had the pleasant surprise of watching a Charizard turning into an actual dragon type. Of course he knew a little bit about Mega Evolution, but to see it like that was a whole different thing.

And then the unexpected happened and the young trainer managed to defeat the Master. Drayden had always used Lance and his Dragonite as the perfect example of the power of dragons, and to see that Greninja taking said Dragonite head on was definitely a sight to watch.

Iris for her part had pretty much entered a catatonic state, her mind not being able to process what she had just witnessed. She had been more than exited when she found out they were going to watch someone like Lance battling, after all she would be able to watch some of the strongest dragons in actions.

She had even scoffed as soon as she saw who was challenging Lance, calling him a _little kid_ as soon as he had entered the stage, but battle by battle he showed her wrong, his Pokemon being able to fight toe to toe against Lance's army of dragons.

And then he actually _evolved_ his Charizard into a dragon.

And then his Greninja did some weird transformation too and _defeated_ Lance.

Yeah her mind was doing a completely reboot, even as the little Axew on her lap tried his best to snap her out of it.

"Well I'll admit I didn't see that one coming!" a boisterous voice said to Drayden, earning a small chuckle from the Dragon expert.

"I would watch myself before some other youth appears and steals your title too, Alder" Drayden responded while looking at the Champion of his own region.

Said man had apparently simply decided to stop by for a while, probably to just eat some of his food or flirt with some teacher at his academy, Drayden had concluded.

It wasn't that weird to see Unova's Champion like this, as the man really liked to just travel around, living a carefree life, besides every Gym leader pretty much knew that it was the Elites of Unova the ones running most of the Pokemon League in their region.

Drayden was really thankful of that. Of course Alder was more than a capable fighter, but responsible was not a word he would use to describe the nomad.

"You think? Well that would certainly stop Shaunta from trying to dump stuff on me!" the Champion answered with a massive smile, his eyes focusing on the TV, or to be more precise on the duo of Ash and Greninja.

"But to see such a trainer battle like that with his Pokemon…" Alder suddenly said with a nostalgic voice, earning a raised eyebrow from Drayden, just before a massive smile appeared on Alder's face "That's a kid I wouldn't mind facing on with everything I have!"

Drayden just looked surprised, not expecting such a declaration to come from the red-headed nomad "Well that would be really hard to arrange"

In response Alder just looked at the white-haired man with a mischievous smile and eyes full of mirth. He was right; arranging a battle between two Champions was a complicated mess, especially with one just recently getting the job, but…

Alder's smiled just got wider. If what his Elites were saying was true and the project could really be completed in the time they had then maybe…

A face-off between Champions suddenly didn't sound so impossible.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile, back in Kanto_

"Ha! Not only he became the first one to beat our Frontier but now he even became Champion! Ash Ketchum you're truly an interesting trainer!" an upbeat voice said coming from a rather round guy sporting black sun-glasses, his whole body screaming excitement because of what he, alongside the members of his Battle Frontier, had witnessed here in the commodity of his house.

"Ash…" the Sailor Maiden Anabel, whispered, doing her best to not shed a tear after what just had happened. It was hard not to though, considering that the young man she had feelings for had now finally accomplished his dreams.

"And here I thought our battle had been intense" Factory Head Nolan commented, more than impressed about the battle, his mind still trying to process the fact that the young man that had challenged him months ago was now a Champion.

"I knew those two were meant for something bigger…" Palace Maven Spencer commented kindly, remembering the strong bond Ash had with each of his Pokemon, specially his Greninja.

It was honestly no surprise for him that the same Greninja was the one to help his trainer at the end, although he was more than curious about that transformation though.

"Ahh young Ash must now understand the love of the crowd and fans! I'm so jealous right now!" an overly dramatic voice said, belonging to the Dome Ace Tucker.

"Well damn that kid actually did it!" Arena Tycoon Greta blurted out, a funny expression on her face.

"Hmph, is only normal. He managed to defeat us all after all, becoming a Champion was the _least_ he could do" Pike Queen Lucy said with a huff, her arms crossing over her chest, ignoring the fact that she herself had been more than impressed by the young man.

"I guess this ruins your plans of adding Ash as a Frontier Brain, Scott" finally the last members of the Frontier said in a cool voice, this person being none other than Pyramid King Brandon, his eyes flickering from the TV to his boss.

"What?!" every other Frontier Brain exclaimed, not knowing anything at all about that plan as the only ones that knew where Brandon and Scott.

"Yeah, he tried to get Ash with us after he beat me but he denied the offer. I guess we can see why now though…" Brandon continued, a raised eyebrow aimed at Scott because of how calm the man suddenly looked. That normally didn't spell good news for anyone.

"No…" Scott suddenly whispered, earning everyone's attention, just before he pretty much _exploded_ "This just makes it even better!"

"W-what?" Anabel voiced out her confusion, looking at Scott with a frown, something that was mirrored by the rest of her fellow Frontier members.

"Just imagine it! Ash, first trainer to beat the Frontier and now Champion of Kanto, becomes a Frontier Brain too! The idea just became even better!" Scott announced, pulling out what looked to be his cell phone and dialing on it with overly-enthusiastic movements.

"And how exactly are you going to accomplish that?" Brandon drawled out, not believing for a second Scott would be able to get Ash, specially now.

The only thing he got as a response was a grin before the man ran out of the room, apparently to pick up his call. This got every Frontier Brain to release a sigh, knowing how exuberant Scott could be.

Oh well, Brandon wouldn't worry about that, after all he was sure Lorelei would freeze the guy to death before letting him distract her newly crowned Champion.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile, in Sinnoh, Lily of the Valley Island._

A beautiful young woman watched the massive TV at one of the rooms in the multiple hotels that she island had, her grey going from utterly surprised to slowly amused, more than a glint of interest showing in her gaze.

It was not every day that a fellow Champion got their spot taken by a challenger after all, especially when said Champion was Lance, the only man that had been able to keep the title of Champion over two different regions.

She moved one of her golden locks behind her ear, a small smile forming in her lips. She herself was pretty much the youngest Champion to date, the only one coming closer being her friend and Champion of Kalos, Diantha, but she guessed she now couldn't hold the title of youngest Champion.

'Speaking of the devil' thought the Sinnoh Champion as soon as her phone ringed, easily recognizing the tone and the person calling because of that, so she wasn't surprised at all when a melodic feminine voice came from the other side of it as soon as she answered the call.

" _I'm guessing you're watching this too?"_ the person on the other line said, earning a chuckle from the blonde woman.

"But of course, it would be irresponsible of us if we didn't…" she answered, her eyes once again focusing on the screen, or to be more precise on the duo that had bested Lance "So what do you think of our new fellow Champion? Kind of young, isn't he?"

She got a snort in response.

" _As if you're one to talk, miss prodigy"_ the Kalos Grand Duchess said with amusement _"But I guess this explains why Steven asked Sycamore for another bracelet"_

Ahh yes, Mega Evolution. She had wondered from where young Ash had obtained such a priced ability, but this pretty much answered her. She wasn't that surprised though, as rumors of Steven taking an apprentice had been going strong for months already.

"And the Greninja's transformation?" she asked once again, this time with more seriousness in her voice "I have never seen something like that"

" _Me neither"_ Diantha answered, obviously also intrigued by the transformation _"It's not Mega Evolution, I'm sure of that but… I have never seen something like that"_

This just made the young man even more interesting in the blonde woman's eyes. Maybe paying a visit to congratulate the new Champion wouldn't be such a bad idea after all, besides she could always help him a little bit when it came to the responsibilities that a Champion had, although she was sure Lance and Steven would handle that already.

She always had an interest in promising trainers like him, so she would have to definitely pay a visit, maybe even get a little match while she was there.

Besides with the current problems her region was facing, maybe getting herself an ally wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile in Alola, Melemele Island._

"So this is the strength of a Champion… it's amazing!" a rather buff man wearing nothing but shorts and a white lab-coat said in awe, his eyes glued to the TV, a small dog-like Pokemon sitting on his shoulder and barking in agreement.

Just besides him an older man with white hair stood too, also watching but with a more serious expression adorning his face. He had to admit he was more than impressed, as it had been a while since he saw a trainer and his Pokemon fighting like that.

"Wouldn't it be great? To have this same kind of trainers representing our region… to show everyone what Alola is capable off!" the young professor said with his fist meeting his palm, and the older Kahuna had to admit that the idea itself didn't sound so bad at all, especially considering what he had just watched.

And he wouldn't really mind at all if the Champion of their region was someone like this kid. He could _feel_ the bond he had with all of his Pokemon, so maybe that idea of starting a Pokemon League here in their little Alola wasn't as bad as he originally thought.

And who knew? This might even bring more worthy trainers of the Tapu's attention.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 **I know, really short chapter, but this one is to set up the events of the future, as not everything will be sunshine for Ash now that he's a champion. I promise next chapter we go back to Ash and I'll try to make it longer.**

 **I have to admit I didn't expect the first chapter to be so well received, considering it was my first time writing a Pokemon battle like that. I'm glad you all enjoyed!**

 **Thank you all for reading, reviewing and following this fic, your encouragement is what keeps stories going!**

 **Next Chapter: Aftermath**


	3. Aftermath

"Ash" Normal Speech

'Greninja' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **[Pokedex]** Pokedex entries

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Aftermath**

 _Indigo Plateu, Kanto._

A young teen groaned, his right hand meeting his face as he slowly sat up, wanting to get the number of whatever Tauros had run him over.

He opened his eyes, his gaze watching confusedly at the strange room that he was in. It was so clean and tidy, although his eyes ended up focusing on the incredible view he got from the window to his right side.

"Oh, you're finally up, Ash" a voice to his left said, getting a squeak of surprise from the trainer, almost making him jump out of bed as he hadn't felt anyone there.

"P-Professor, you almost give me a heart attack!" the black-haired young man said, a hand clutching his chest, earning a hearty laugh from Kanto's biggest Pokemon expert.

"Sorry sorry, you shouldn't move much though, doctor's orders" the Professor said, ending with a more serious tone, something that got a frown from the teen.

"Doctor? Wait… where am I? What happened?" Ash shot the questions at who pretty much was like a grandfather to him, his right hand rubbing the back of his head. The last thing he remembered was facing Lance with Greninja and then…

His eyes widened as he remembered, just as Professor Oak stood up. Had that really happened? Or was it just a messed up dream he had? But it felt so real…

"Let me be the first to congratulate you then" Samuel's words got Ash's attention, as the Professor gave him a smile filled with nothing but pride "Congratulation on becoming Champion, Ash!"

Ash just looked at the old man with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open. It wasn't a dream then? He had actually done it? He was now a Champion?!

Ash's mind did the only thing it could to control the storm it was having, it shutdown completely.

And with that the young man passed out on the spot, his head hitting the bed once again, earning a sweatdrop from Oak. Maybe he shouldn't have just said that right now.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

The next time Ash woke up was because of a wet sensation assaulting his face, making him frown in his sleep, his hands moving towards the culprit.

"Alright alright I'm up Pikachu, stop that" Ash said with a groan, his eyes opening slowly, his gaze now focusing on the yellow mouse that was residing on his chest.

"What got you so exited, buddy?" the Pallet Town trainer said while sitting up and rubbing his Pikachu's head, earning a soft happy cry from the electric type, Ash easily noticing how high spirited his starter was acting.

Then it clicked on his mind, where he was and _why_ he was there, and more important, Professor Oak's confirmation that they had actually done it.

He had defeated Lance.

"We did it…" he whispered lowly, earning Pikachu's attention, just before a massive grin formed on his lips, his eyes shining with nothing but happiness and excitement, just before he actually launched Pikachu in the air, earning a surprised cry from the mouse before they turned into happy cries too.

"We did it, we did it!" Ash chanted as he kept catching and throwing Pikachu in the air. After a few seconds of doing this the trainer simply hugged Pikachu to his chest, his whole body still shacking in excitement.

"We really did it" he confirmed with a subdued tone, nothing but pride leaving his voice as he looked at the small mouse that years ago had refused to even listen to him "I really couldn't have done it without you, buddy"

In response Pikachu just nuzzled against the side of his face, Ash patting him gently on his head in return. Of course it wasn't just Pikachu that had helped him; he needed to see the rest of his team as soon as possible.

But before that…

"Glad you see you so full of energy, Ash"

Another yell of shock escapes Ash's mouth as his eyes land on the owner of the voice with a wild look.

"Professor! Please stop doing that!" the black-haired teen said with a sigh, his hand absentmindedly rubbing Pikachu's back as the mouse rested on his lap.

"Sorry about that" Oak apologized with a smile "I hope you stay up longer this time, you do have plenty of visitors after all"

Before Ash even got the idea to ask what visitors the door of the room was open, the woman entering immediately setting her gaze onto Ash.

"Ash!" and with that Delia pretty much embraced her son, hugging him so tightly that a small gasp escaped his lips. It didn't help either that they were pretty much pressing Pikachu between each other, the Electric type doing his best to escape from their grip.

"M-mom I'm fine" Ash said, patting her arms, wanting to avoid Pikachu blowing up the room with an electric attack "B-but please, we can't breathe properly here"

She actually hugged him even more tightly for just a few seconds more before finally letting go, earning two relieved sighs from the trainer and Pokemon duo.

"You had me so worried" Delia said, while cleaning the tears that almost spilled from her eyes.

"I'm sorry…" The trainer answered with a guilty expression while looking down, hating to see his mother like that.

"I think we need to talk about Greninja's transformation, Ash…" Professor Oak followed, looking at the teen with extreme seriousness. Not only that, but something in both of their stares told Ash that they knew more about it than they should.

That could only mean that…

"May told you then?" He asked while rubbing the back of his head, thinking of the only person that could have told them anything about the transformation.

Well there was also Steven, but he seriously doubted he would say anything, especially since he was probably in Hoenn.

"She didn't want to at the start, apparently she didn't want you to be mad at her" Professor Oak confirmed with a nod, Delia for her part narrowing her gaze at her son, who refused to look back. Pikachu was looking between them, a frown of worry present on his face.

"Ash how could you do something so dangerous!" Delia screamed at her son, who still refused to look at her, apparently finding the window to his side very entertaining "Ash, look at me" she commanded this time, getting him to slowly but surely to match her gaze.

"How could you have put yourself at such a risk?! Who knows what might have happened?! You have no idea what it could do! Feeling pain is already too much, but what if it gets worse?!" his mother pretty much ranted at him, making him look down guiltily again just before she grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look at her eyes once again.

"Promise me you will never use that thing again" She said with an air of finality, not accepting a no for an answer "Promise it, Ash"

If it was any other thing then said young man would have definitely agreed, after all if there was one thing he hated was seeing his mother with such a worried look in her eyes, but…

"I can't…" the teen whispered, shock passing through Delia's eyes for just a second before she prepared to berate her son once again, but Ash beat her to the punch on that.

"I know it dangerous, and I know you worry" Ironically enough, Ash noticed, this was not the first time he had received this very own lecture.

May had pretty much told him the exact same thing when she had figured out the consequences of the transformation. He would have preferred to keep it as a secret, but it was hard considering she had been there when he had first discovered it.

Steven had also warned him about future consequences, and May had also tried to make him promise to never use such a thing again.

Heck even Greninja had refused to use it once he had realized they would both share the pain of any attacks while transformed.

But even so…

"But I had to use it. It was the only way we were able to keep up with Lance" Ash admitted, that sentence alone leaving a bad taste in his mouth. He knew it wasn't a big shock, after all Lance had a lot more experience than him, and he had been able to defend his title for many years, and while he was more than happy to win he still knew that if it wasn't for that transformation he would have lost.

"I know the consequences, and I know you want me to never use it again but… how can I call myself a trainer if I don't battle with everything I have?" the teen continued, conviction shinning through his eyes as he locked his gaze with his mother "Even if it hurts I can't back off now, not after everything Greninja and I had done"

"Ash, you…" Delia looked perplexed at her child, knowing he was stubborn but this was too much. She opened and closed her mouth, even though no words escaped it before finally releasing a sigh "Why must you be like this… don't you realize how much I worry for you?"

"Ash" Professor Oak decided to intervene, getting the attention of the mother and son duo, alongside Pikachu's "How many times have you actually used it?"

The teen blinked at the question, a frown on his face as he silently pondered it. He had of course trained with it once he had learned how to trigger it, but in an actual battle?

"Only three times… not counting the battle with Dragonite" he answered, earning a nod from Oak and a sigh of relief from Delia, glad that he hadn't been using it too much.

"I guess we can't really force you to stop" the Professor of Kanto continued, earning a glare from Delia "But please be sure to never use it unless you think it's absolutely necessary… At least until we get more information about it"

Ash looked between both his grandfather figure and his mom before his eyes settled on Pikachu, who was also giving him a concerned glance. He knew his very own Pokemon also didn't like what the transformation could do, especially Greninja.

"Alright" he answered with a nod, thinking that this was the best arrangement they would get, even if his mother still looked more than ready to protest, but a hand on her shoulder and a shake from Oak stopped her.

"Where's the rest of my team?" Ash suddenly asked, trying to change the subject to avoid more problems. He really wanted to see them too.

"They're being treated right now, their wounds were quite severe" It was Oak who answered, Delia moving to take a seat just besides her son "In fact I'm sure Pikachu should be resting too"

In response he just got a roll of eyes form the mouse before he climbed onto his trainer's shoulder before giving Oak s stare, almost as if challenging him to separate him from the boy.

He just got a chuckle in response.

"Ash!" another voice that everyone in the room recognized said, coming from the door, brown eyes suddenly meeting blue ones.

"Yo, Seren-!" Ash tried to greet his longtime childhood friend, but he was shut down as the girl clamped down on him, hugging him tightly just like his mom had done, her arms around his neck. Luckily Pikachu had seen this one coming from a mile away and had jumped away, landing on Delia's lap.

"Well looks like Ashy-boy is finally up" another voice said, this one belonging to Ash's other childhood friend and former rival. Said teen also entered the room, however he was not alone.

"Glad to see you're better, Ash" Brock said with a smile, one that Ash returned awkwardly as he tried, and failed, to calm Serena down.

"You really like to play with people's feelings, don't you?!" this outburst belonged to Misty, who pretty much marched towards him before grabbing him by the ear, earning a yelp of pain from the newly victor Champion of Kanto.

"Gahh, I'm sorry I'm sorry!" the black-haired teen tried to shake off the Water type expert, but it was too much for him considering Serena still refused to let go. He was saved from more pain though, since Misty suddenly let go of him, however she was still sporting a mighty glare.

"I know you like to do reckless things, but even I think this is too much, Ash" Misty commented, knowing how easy it was for the trainer to get into some sort of world-ending event that at this point had Misty wondering if he was suicidal or something.

However her glare lessened as she watched Ash looking guilty between her and Serena to the point that she just released a sigh, deciding to cut the boy some slack by patting him in the back.

"I'll let you off the hook just because you won, Mr. Champion" she continued with a huff, her arms crossing over her chest, receiving a grin in response from Ash, which she returned with a smile.

"I'll admit it Ash, not bad at all for someone that brought a Pikachu against two Ground types" Brock commented with a teasing smile, his fist raised towards his young friend. Ash in response just laughed awkwardly, fist-bumping his very first friend during his journey, although it was a little bit awkward considering the position he was in.

"Should we leave you too alone or something?" this time it was Gary who talked, looking at the scene with nothing but amusement. He would be more worried about Ash but honestly at this point he doubted anything could take him down.

"Serena I'm fine…really" Ash said in his voice soothing voice, ignoring the snickers he got from pretty everyone else in the room, even Pikachu. His mother was the exception though, as she was still looking at him with a frown.

It took a few more seconds but the girl finally released him, drying her unshed tears with her sleeve. She then separated herself from her childhood friend, but kept her hands on her shoulder while giving him a firm stare that he returned with just a smile.

She then opened her mouth, but before she could even say anything Professor Oak's voice interrupted her.

"If you're going to try and stop him from using…whatever that transformation is, we tried too. Best we got was for him to only use it in emergencies. We all know how stubborn Ash can be" The Professor summarized everything, earning owlish blinks from everyone watching.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Serena suddenly asked, her eyes once again set on who was pretty much her best friend. Everyone else also looked at Ash, interested in the answer too.

"I just didn't want to worry you…" he answered while rubbing the back of his head "I knew you would try to stop me too and I didn't want to start any fight with you guys"

His friends nodded at him with different degrees of understanding, although his mom and Serena still looked upset.

He decided to simply not use it in front of them, he didn't need another rant after all, he got plenty of those already.

"It seems you're quite popular, Ash" another deep voice said, followed by a group of people entering the room. Ash was definitely glad the room was so big, or else they would certainly not fit.

However his previous carefree state disappeared once he recognized who was entering. Four people to be exact actually, the first one was of course being Nurse Joy, a figure he was already very used to. In fact he could already see Brock trying to make his move as she entered, but Misty had a tight enough hold around his wrist apparently.

That looked really painful.

Next one was someone he knew very well. May Maple, another young trainer he had met while traveling Hoenn. She was looking dejectedly at the ground, refusing to meet his gaze, and Ash had an idea as to why.

Apparently Greninja wasn't the only one that needed a talk.

The other two though, were the ones that had everyone on their edge. It was hard not to, considering how prominent both figures were in the Pokemon League as representatives of Kanto.

Lorelei, one of the strongest trainers of the region and member of the Elite 4, and of course Lance himself.

"Lance…" Ash nodded towards his former opponent, receiving a nod back, both of their gazes locked into each-other.

"Could everyone else leave? We need to discuss something with young Ash here" Lorelei's melodic voice suddenly ran, and everyone looked ready to protest, but a gesture from Lance stopped them.

"Professor Oak can stay, and Ash can tell you later, but right now we would prefer privacy" The Dragon Master commanded, his eyes sweeping through everyone with a cold stare that no one was able to match.

Exept Delia. She just glared right back. She had once been kidnapped by a fake legendary Pokemon; she wasn't going to get intimidated by this man.

"It's fine" Ash said, nodding towards his friends and mother, even as Serena looked just about to protest "I'll tell you about it later, don't worry" he reassured them with smile.

It took a few more minutes and words to convince everyone to leave, and even so Ash knew they would probably just be outside the door. In the end only Professor Oak, Lance, Lorelei and himself stayed in the room, with Pikachu now on Ash's shoulder.

Nurse Joy had quickly left after checking on him too, also telling him that his team was completely recovered, something that lifted a weight from Ash's shoulders.

It was then that a tense silence filled the room, with Ash simply looking at Lance, waiting for him to say anything. Said man was also just looking down at him, almost as if analyzing his very being.

"Let me first congratulate you on not only defeating my Elites, but also myself" Lance spoke, his voice filled with dignity "However let me ask you something first, Ash Ketchum. Do you know what it means to be a Pokemon League's Champion?"

His sudden question surprised Ash, while Oak just raised an eyebrow at said question. Lorelei also had her gaze glued into Ash, while Pikachu simply frowned at the two Elites.

"Being a Champion is not fun and games, Ash" Lance continued, knowing he had the teen's attention "As the Champion of a region you become the _region_ itself. Every move, every decision you make must always be for the good of the region. As a Champion people look up to us when searching for answers as it is our duty to protect everyone that calls this region their home, even if it means putting your own life at risk"

His speech had Ash shocked, his eyes widened at his words, his gaze filled with awe and uncertainty. He knew becoming a Champion was a massive responsibility, Steven had made sure for him to understand that, but to hear it like this from Lance was something else.

"So I must ask you, who has taken my title as the Champion of Kanto, do _you_ think you have what it takes to actually _be_ a Champion?" this question was crucial, something that both Lance and Lorelei knew. Winning the title was something after all, but if the person that had done so wasn't worthy then, what was the point?

Then again Ash had faced every test that had stood in front of him to reach the title. Winning the Indigo League years ago had only been the first step, the real challenge had been taking on the Elites of Kanto, namely Lorelei, Agatha and Bruno.

Of course just defeating them in combat didn't cut it. No, each Elite tested the challengers to see if they were worthy enough of the title, each one in their own ways. The fact that Ash had managed to reach him in one final match not only meant he had bested the Elites in combat, but that he had gained their silent approval not only as a trainer, but also as someone they wouldn't mind protecting the region alongside with.

But even so that didn't change the fact that Ash was young, extremely so in Lance's opinion. Some would call him a prodigy for reaching this far with only fourteen years of age, but Lance saw inexperience.

In the end, even if it was harsh, Ash was simply still just a kid. Could someone like him lead Kanto properly? He had already an opinion about it, but Ash's next answer would decide if he truly accepted him as his successor or not.

Ash's gaze felt to his hand, his mind going a mile per second, Lance's words resonating in his heart, the same question replaying over and over in his head. He wanted to answer with just a _yes_ , but the word died in his throat. He couldn't just answer like that, Lance deserved more than that.

So he just asked himself, was he truly ready? He wanted to believe that he was, but traveling with Steven, and hearing Lance's words truly made him doubt himself. Did he have what it take to be a proper Champion? To lead the whole Pokemon League?

It felt like such a big responsibility, and that's because Ash knew it was. Just thinking about it already made him light-headed, worry already spreading inside of him even though he hadn't even accepted the title yet!

" **Pikapi"** suddenly Pikachu's call drew him out, Ash's moving his eyes to look straight at his starter, the yellow mouse giving him a look that honestly almost made him gasp.

It was filled with so much trust and confidence that it actually surprised Ash. He understood what Pikachu was trying to tell him right there, that he would follow him no matter what decision he took.

He smiled and patted the Electric type, earning a soft cry before once again locking gaze with Lance, fiery determination meeting cold judgment.

"I know I'm probably not ready…" Ash started, his hands closing tightly into fists "I know it might be too much and honestly? I'm a little bit scared… but… even if it takes me one, or five or ten years I'm not going to just give up just because it looks difficult. I don't care how long it takes; I'll become someone that everyone can depend off… So even if you tell me I'm not ready yet then I'll just keep getting better!"

Both Lorelei and Professor Oak gave Ash a surprised look, not expecting such an outburst; however Samuel's gaze quickly melted into nothing but pride. His young grandson in all but blood had really grown up now, hadn't he? Even if he could still act immature sometimes there was no denying he wasn't a kid anymore.

"Hmm, so even knowing how hard it will be, you still decide to face it head on?" Lance asked once again, his only answer being a grin from Ash, earning a sigh from the Dragon Master.

"Very well…" he could already feel the headache coming to him, knowing that his next decision was going to get more than a few protests "If that's your answer then…"

Ash gulped as he saw something flash in Lance's eye just before the man turned away, his cape willowing alongside him.

"Lorelei, I leave him in your care for now, I have matters to attend to if we want to make this transition as smooth as possible" Lance spoke while walking towards the door, earning a sharp nod from the Ice type expert.

"And Ash" he continued just before opening the door, not turning around "It takes more than just determination to be a proper Champion… be sure to remember that" and with those words the Champion of Johto left the room, leaving a surprised professor, a silent Elite and a completely lost trainer.

"What just happened?"

"That was Lance's way of saying that he approves of you, Ash" it was Lorelei the one that spoke, her words serious but with a tinge of warm as she smiled towards Ash "I'll be in your care from now on, Champion of Kanto" she ended with a formal bow.

You had to give Ash credit here; at least he didn't pass out again.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Hours later, night time_

Brown eyes looked up at the ceiling on his room, his breathing slow as his mind processed everything that had happened. A lot of things had definitely changed in just a few days to the point that he almost felt overwhelmed by everything.

In fact the only reason he wasn't becoming a mess of nervousness what probably because of the support he was getting. Professor Oak had assured him that he had his full support on this, and that he would help him as much as he could.

Surprisingly though, it was Lorelei the one that vowed to support him on this. He didn't know if she was doing it just out of duty or if Lance had told her to, but he was glad to have someone with experience helping him.

God knows he would probably be a mess if he was alone.

He still didn't have every detail of what was going to happen or what he was supposed to do, as Lorelei told him to concentrate on getting better first. At least Nurse Joy had told him he could probably leave the place in a couple of days, so he wouldn't be chained to this bed for much longer.

He absentmindedly moved his hand through Pikachu's back, the yellow mouse being completely asleep and resting on his chest. His friends and family had left a while ago as visit hours had ended, but even then he had not been able to talk properly to May.

It was as if she was avoiding him, and he had an idea as to why. He really just needed to sort everything out as soon as possible.

His attention was taken out from the ceiling once he heard a sound from the window to the side of the room, his eyes trailing at the figure that was now sitting at the edge of the open window, a smile forming on his lips.

"Should have known you wouldn't be able to just stay and rest" Ash commented amused, doing his best to leave the bed without waking up Pikachu, who he left sleeping on the bed.

He reached the open window, his hands on the edge as he looked at the moon outside, stars filling the night sky.

"We finally did it, huh?" Ash whispered, his gaze once again falling on his partner, said Pokemon also looking at the moon in silence.

"I would think you would be happier than this, Greninja" the Pallet Town trainer commented with a frown, worried about the dual Water/Dark type.

And said Pokemon was happy, he truly was, but it was hard for him to be proud of himself when his lack of strength had landed his trainer right into the hospital.

After all if he was stronger than Dragonite then transforming wouldn't have been necessary, and while he loved the surge of strength he got from the transformation in his eyes it wasn't worth it if it put Ash in risk.

He honestly felt guilty about it; even though they had reached their goal, if Ash had gotten seriously hurt because of him… he would never be able to forgive himself.

"Greninja…" years of traveling and battling together had given Ash a pretty nice ability to know how his partner was feeling, even if language was a barrier to them, just looking at his eyes he could see the guilt that was eating the Kalos starter from the inside.

He couldn't have that.

Greninja's eyes finally focused on his trainer once the young man had suddenly sat on the edge of the window, the frog blinking in confusion at the action, just before the new Champion of Kanto finally talked.

"You know, I don't think I would have been able to get this far without you…" Ash started, melancholy filling his voice as a small smile formed in his lips "Sure, everyone else in the team helped a lot but… you were my first Pokemon. I remember how stubborn you were, refusing to even listen to me or mom" he chuckled at this, while Greninja just looked down in embarrassment, remembering how much of a pain he was as a Froakie.

"But that helped me to get stronger" at this Greninja gave him a surprised look, which Ash returned with a smirk "I wanted to be someone strong enough so that you would proudly consider me your trainer… I think if I hadn't met you I wouldn't be here right now"

"That's why…" at this Ash's eyes turned sharp, and Greninja, just for a second, felt the exact same energy whenever he transformed "I want to keep getting stronger, for everyone's sake, even if it hurts, even if It's harder than even before, I want to become Kanto's greatest trainer"

Greninja has his eyes wide at hearing Ash's words, the conviction and passion that the young man in both his voice and eyes making Greninja remember _why_ he had chose him as his trainer.

"Let's keep getting stronger, Greninja" Ash said resolutely, raising his right hand towards his first Pokemon "Together"

The dual Water/Dark type looked straight at his trainer's eyes before looking down at the offered hand, a moment of doubt washing over him before being replaced with burning determination.

He grasped the offered hand, trainer and Pokemon looking at each other in the eye, an oath forming itself in their hearts.

They would get stronger, one for the sake of everyone and the other for the sake of his partner. This was just the beginning for them.

Now if only this moment had not been interrupted by someone slowly, but surely, opening the door of the room.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _A couple of minutes later_

"I'll give you three credit; you really don't know when to give up, do you?" Ash said while releasing a sigh, a look between annoyance and slight respect directed at the two humans and one Pokemon in front of him, the people sporting blue and red hair while the Pokemon was a Meowth.

But not any Meowth, a talking one.

And they weren't any group; they were members of the criminal organization known as Team Rocket.

Or so they said, because honestly Ash would be surprised if they hadn't been fired already, considering how little success they had when it came to stealing Pokemon.

Their current situation didn't help either.

Both Jessie and James were shaking on their boots, a fearful expression on their faces while they had their hands up in a sign of surrender. The reason for this being the black kunais that were aimed straight at their necks, courtesy of Greninja of course, who was standing just behind them with an angry expression.

And Meowth? Currently under Greninja's left leg.

"What did you came here to do anyway?" the teen asked with a deadpanned expression, honestly curious. The obvious answer would be to steal Pokemon, or god forbid Pikachu as they loved to try, but wasn't this too risky, even for them?

Sure, a couple of years ago Ash would have faced them with a lot more aggressiveness, but at this point it was really hard to consider them a threat, either because Greninja alone could easily handle them, or because in the bottom they honestly didn't strike Ash as bad guys.

In his opinion that was why they probably sucked so much at, well, being bad guys.

It looked like it would be Jessie the first one to talk, but once her eyes traveled towards Greninja she clamped her mouth shut in apparent fear, earning a sigh form Ash.

"Greninja that's enough, I'm sure they aren't going to do anything anyway" the black-haired teen said, earning a reluctant node from the Kalos starter as he called away his attack, hiding in the shadows of the room but more than ready to act if needed.

"So?" Ash asked once again, crossing his arms over his chest.

It was honestly funny, how the trio looked between them in confusion before hugging each other and whispering some stuff that Ash wasn't able to hear. They also looked back to him from time to time, while he just waited with a raised eyebrow.

In the end it looked like it was Meowth who had become the speaker of the group since he approached him slowly while coughing.

"We…" Meowth started, and even to this day Ash was still shocked that he could actually speak like a human "actually came to… well, congratulate you" the cat Pokemon actually hissed the last couple of words, almost as if just saying them hurt him or something.

"You did?" Ash asked, obviously skeptic.

"Y-yeah!" this time it was James who spoke "You… actually looked kind of cool there, twerp!"

"Thank you…I think" this was not something that Ash expected, so he didn't know how to react at all. He expected a lot from these three, but congratulations weren't one of them.

"But this changes nothing!" now it was Jessie's turn apparently "So you better prepare for trou-!"

"And I think that's enough" and as soon as Ash heard Jessie starting her little speech, alongside with James and Meowth moving in to follow her, Greninja chopped the woman's at the back of the throat, knocking her out cold.

Ash then looked at James, whose eyes were moving wildly between his fallen teammate and Greninja, apparently trying to come to a decision.

It only took him a second more.

"And make it dou-!" another chop silenced him too, both members of Team Rocket now lying on the floor of the room. His eyes then landed on Meowth.

"And you?"

"Meowth that's ri-guH!" and with that he now had three unconscious criminals on the floor of his hospital room.

He released a tired sigh, his eyes watching jealously how Pikachu was _still_ asleep, obviously more than comfortable.

"At least the day is over…" he concluded, now thinking of ways to get this three out of here.

In his head he knew though, that future Ash was going to have a lot more troubles than before.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 **Another slow chapter, I know, but bear in mind that these are the key points that I'm mostly going to focus on this fic:**

 **1: How one difference (Ash meeting Froakie before starting his adventure) could make Ash's development different to the point in which this fanfic starts.**

 **2: How Ash will grow in order to fulfill his newfound duty**

 **3: How the Pokemon world will change by the previous developments**

 **So you can expect slow chapters like this, of course action will come as I really liked writing the fight in the first chapter, but this won't be Ash just having a bunch of battles as a Champion… then again there is** _ **that**_ **arc I'm planning.**

 **Of course this is not me giving a 14 year old the title of president of a whole region. You'll see how this plays out, but you can expect for not everyone to be happy with Lance actually passing on his title.**

 **And well, it looks like a few of you already have ideas for the pairing. I'm honestly surprised by how hated AshXMay is, but I'll be sure to keep every recommendation on my mind (although if you send me actual reasons for a pairing that would help too)**

 **Thank you everyone for reading and following this story, special thanks to everyone taking time to leave a review, thank you all.**

 **Next Chapter: The Unknown enemy is the deadliest**


	4. Hiding in Plain Sight

"Ash" Normal Speech

'Greninja' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **[Pokedex]** Pokedex entries

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **AN: This chapter had yet to be beta-read**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Hiding in Plain Sight**

 _Next Day_

"Yosh! Everyone let's go!" with an exited yell the young trainer known as Ash threw four Pokeballs into the sky, the four objects releasing the creatures inside, they being the team Ash had used in order to face Kanto's Dragon Master.

The first one to make his presence known was probably his strongest Pokemon, at least when it came to pure raw power. His Charizard appeared with a roar as he flapped his wings, a puff of smoke escaping his nostrils as his sharp gaze went straight towards his trainer.

Just besides him, and with arms crossed, was his Sceptile, a twig on his mouth, something that Ash was pretty used by now, and a small smirk plastered over his face.

With a big yawn the tank of his team made his presence well known, his Snorlax happily waving at him with a drowsy smile, a little bit of saliva running down the corner of his mouth.

" **Maw!"** The most energetic one of the bunch was definitely his Mawile though, and she made that abundantly clear as she happily skipped towards him and tugging at the hem of his shirt, earning a chuckle from teen as he patted the dual Steel/Fairy type on her head, carefully avoiding her second mouth.

Wouldn't be the first time he got bit by that.

Of course the team wouldn't be complete without his two oldest friends, with Pikachu resting on his shoulder while Greninja simply stood silently by his side, both arms crossed over his chest.

"Alright" Ash said with a clap of his hands, wanting to get everyone's attention, a big grin plastered on his face. It was hard not to be exited after all, considering today would be his official first day as Kanto's Champion.

Two days had passed every since his battle with Lance, and now that he had fully recovered Lance had wanted to finish off everything with the official crowning ceremony. It would be later this same day, right at the same stadium in which he and Lance had fought, the ceremony itself just being a 'passing on the torch' kind of thing.

The reason for the ceremony to be so sudden was, or at least according to Lorelei, to make the transition from Lance to himself as smooth as possible. Something like this couldn't be delayed any longer, and while Lorelei had expressed her desires to instruct him into more things before this day she knew that time wasn't on their side.

The Ice type expert had left perfectly clear that it would be her the one instructing him in everything related to his new duty, something that Ash couldn't be more grateful for, after all he was quite literally a fish out of water here, so having a person with experience like Lorelei helping him had definitely lifted a weight of his shoulder.

But of course he couldn't do any of that without first telling his team about the result of the battle! Of course Pikachu and Greninja already knew, but considering how the rest had been resting until now he assumed they didn't know a thing.

However if what Tracy had told him about the current state his other Pokemon back at Professor Oak's lab was true then the news had definitely spread quickly over there.

"I bet you're all dying to know what happened with Lance" Ash said, and judging by the looks he was receiving the answer was pretty obvious. Heck even Snorlax looked interested.

"Well…" he started, adjusting his hat as he looked down just before raising his head, a massive grin on his lips "We won!"

The result had been immediate, with Charizard releasing a huge roar, followed by a Flamethrower to the sky, while Sceptile simply grinned confidently, almost as if he had never doubted it for even a second.

His other two Pokemon were a lot more expressive though, with Mawile jumping on him and using his neck to support herself just before Snorlax picked them both up and threw them into the sky with a happy cry, catching them, and launching them once again.

Pikachu of course had seen this one coming too, and had jumped off the shoulder of his trainer in order to avoid the commotion. The Electric type then met eyes with both Charizard and Sceptile, giving them a thumbs up and a smile, which they returned with nods and grins.

The trio's eyes then set on the Water/Dark type of the bunch, the frog Pokemon still simply standing there, his arms crossed and his eyes closed, however he opened his eyes once he noticed the stares he was getting from his team members, it was almost as if they were expecting something from him, Greninja noticed.

Once he finally realized what they wanted he simply rolled his eyes at them before giving them a thumbs up too, earning smirks from the Kanto and Hoehn starters while Pikachu just chuckled.

"Nurse Joy told you to rest and this is the first thing you do?" a sharp voice said, getting all of the Pokemon's attention, including Ash. This got him into an interesting position, with Snorlax holding him while Mawile hanged on his back.

"L-Lorelei" Ash said with a gulp, noticing the sharp stare the Elite of Kanto was giving him. Yeah it was true that Nurse Joy had told him to take it easy, but he honestly just got lost in the moment with his team.

"Honestly" she said with a shake of her head and a sigh as Snorlax finally lowered Ash to the ground "Don't forget that the ceremony will be later today, we can have you get hurt before that, now can we?"

"Sorry" the black-haired teen answered while rubbing the back of his head, simply earning a nod of acceptance from the red-head.

"We will discuss the details about everything you should know after the ceremony has ended. I hope you're prepared because there are more than a few individuals that want to talk to you"

This just got her a confused frown followed by a nod. People that wanted to talk with him? Were they people from the news or something? He definitely remembered having to pretty much hide while he was trying to get here just to not get swarmed by them.

They had been camping just outside the hospital!

At least this small field was secluded enough, which just made Ash more confused about something.

"Wait, how did you find me?" Ash asked with a tilt of his head. This just got the older woman to blink at him before turning around, signaling at something away from the group.

"She told m where to find you" the Ice expert answered before turning around once again as she adjusted her glasses "Now we should first cover up-"

However in the spot her new Champion was supposed to be she found nothing but an empty space, which got her to blink owlishly at the spot just before she turned around once more, watching as Ash slowly disappeared from sight.

"Sorry Lorelei, I promise I'll make up for this!" he yelled as he ran, intending to catch up to the figure he had easily recognized.

The Kanto Elite just looked perplexed at the young man as he slowly disappeared from sight, a sigh escaping her lips soon after just as she brought her right hand up to her forehead, already knowing the headache that was sure to come.

She stopped her movement though, once she felt the piercing glances she was receiving from behind. She turned around; her gaze meeting the team Ash had used to defeat Lance. She also recognized a few he had used against herself of course, namely the Charizard, Pikachu and Greninja.

However it wasn't the stares that bothered her, no, it was what they were showing in their eyes. It was such an amount of raw _understanding_ and even _pity_ that it was enough to make her right eye twitch in indignation.

Why were they looking at her as if she was about to embark in the hardest adventure ever made?

" **Pika"** and then the Pikachu actually came close to her and patted her on her leg, as if trying to encourage her to never give up.

…What has she gotten into?

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile_

"May, wait!" Ash yelled as he ran as fast as he could, intending to catch up to the brunette figure that was trying to get away from him.

Luckily for him he was faster, so it didn't take him long to catch up to her, his hand grabbing her wrist to make sure she didn't escape.

"May…" Ash muttered with a frown, the girl in question not even trying to escape anymore. Her back was turned towards him though, so he wasn't able to see her expression.

"I'm sorry…" the girl whispered, so low that Ash was barely even able to hear it.

"What?" he asked confused, having an idea of why she was acting like this but wanting to make sure he was correct.

His theory was proven true once she suddenly turned around, forcing him to let go of her hand, and actually bowed in front of him, getting a shocked look from the Kanto trainer.

"I'm sorry!" this time the coordinator said it with more firmness "I promised you I wouldn't tell anyone but… they told me anything I knew could help…I'm sorry"

May definitely remembered how serious Ash had been when he had made her promise to not tell _anyone,_ not even Serena or Brock, about the effects of the transformation.

Of course she had begged him to stop using it instead, but the best she got in response was that he would only use it in an emergency.

Watching him collapse into the ground when he faced Lance had made her heart wrench in pain. She remembered when the same had happened before, and knowing the details about of now just made it even worse.

But even so she broke her promise, so worry had planted itself in her as soon as Ash had woken up. Would he be angry at her? That's the last thing she wanted, especially when she had to leave so soon.

She didn't want to leave him in such a bad note.

So May expected a lot of things, but just a chuckle was not one of them. The girl slowly looked up, her eyes finally meeting Ash as the young man simply grinned at her.

"I knew you would worry about that…" he said, smiling kindly at the girl that he had mentored while they were traveling through Hoenn "Do you honestly thing I would get mad at you just for this?"

"But… I promised" the girl said slowly as she raised her head, only getting Ash to shake his head.

"But you had no other choice but to tell them, right?" he questioned, getting a nod from her "Then I don't see the problem! I knew I would have to explain it after using it against Lance anyway, so you just saved me the trouble of doing it"

"Ash…" May was looking at the older teen with surprise. She knew how kind he could be but…

"I'm telling you it's alright" Ash repeated as he moved closer and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, a smile still present on his face "I'll only get mad if you keep apologizing for nothing"

May for her part just looked at him for a few seconds before finally smiling, which just made Ash's grin to become even wider. May ended up giggling at Ash's chuckled, the tension that had been there before completely disappearing.

"I bet Serena and Misty gave you quite the scolding" she said between giggles, this time getting Ash to look dejectedly at the ground.

"You have no idea… I'm sure Serena is still mad at me"

"That's what happens when you do reckless stuff like that" and now she was glaring at him before her gaze softened "How are you feeling? I mean last time it was…"

"I couldn't be better!" he answered as he moved away and patted his chest with his fist "I'm a Champion now so something like this isn't going to keep me down!"

"I'm glad to hear that" a sudden chill went up from Ash's spine as cold, commanding voice was heard from behind the teen. May looked at the figure with wide eyes, obvious fear in them as Ash slow turned around, his brown eyes finally meeting Lorelei's glasses covered red eyes.

Did he mention she was glaring at him? Because he was sure that look could freeze even fire.

"I'm sorry to cut this short but _Champion_ Ash has some matters to attend to right now" the way she had stressed that one word just felt like an arrow had pierced Ash straight through his body.

Maybe ditching her like that had not been such a good idea.

"Now follow me, let's grab your Pokemon first, there a lot to discuss for today" the woman turned around, knowing that the young trainer would follow her without question.

"Good luck, _Champion_ " May said teasingly as she patted the dejected Ash on the back. He gave her one final smile before moving to walk besides Lorelei, wondering what is it that they were going to discuss.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Hours later, Indigo Stadium_

Deep breaths escaped Ash's lips, his eyes closed as he did his best to calm his raging hearth.

There was no one else besides him, not even his Pokemon as Lorelei took them away from him before, saying that it was a surprise. He found himself alone in the hallway that connected with the arena itself, the same hallway he had walked through just before facing Lance.

With determination burning on his now open eyes Ash moved forward. Lorelei had explained him the gist of what the ceremony would entail. It was pretty much a passing on the torch kind of thing, so it would mostly Lance the one doing the talk, although Lorelei made him known that she, alongside the rest of the Elites, would be there too.

She also mentioned a few special guests, but she kept that as a secret too for some reason, telling him to not worry about much.

It was truly surreal for the young trainer. Lance's battle had been the most important moment in his life, but this? With this he would officially become Kanto's Champion. To say he was both excited and nervous beyond belief would be cutting it short.

The fact that he could hear the crowd chanting his name didn't help either, although he had long since moved past any stage fear he could ever have.

It was after walking a few seconds that he saw the light that signaled the exit, but his eyes weren't focused there, instead they were focused on the lonesome figure that stood just before said exist, his back resting against the wall as he looked towards Ash with a smile, his arms over his chest.

"Nervous?" The silver haired man that Ash had quickly recognized asked, getting a smirk from the younger trainer.

"Just a little bit" he answered, nothing but respect shining in his eyes "I thought you were in Hoenn!"

"And missing my student's moments? I don't think so" Steven said as he moved towards the trainer, his right hand resting on his shoulder.

"Next time we see each other it will be as fellow Champions" Steven said, honest pride resounding in his voice "I hope you're prepared, because _now_ it's when it gets hard"

"I won't disappoint you, Steven" Ash responded with complete seriousness, his words only getting a chuckle from the older Champion.

"I think we're long past that, my young friend" as he said this he started to walk away from the same path Ash had just went through "Don't forget you don't have to shoulder everything by yourself, Ash. I, alongside the region of Hoenn, will always be your allies"

Ash's eyes widened at hearing that, before a small smile appeared on his lips as he muttered his final words before turning around, deciding not to delay this anymore.

"Thank you…"

"I should be the one thanking you, Ash…" and with that, both Champions followed their paths.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Hours later_ , _Pokemon League's Headquarters, Kanto_

"How you're holding up, my boy?" the kind voice of Professor Oak asked, his eyes looking at the obviously tired form of Ash Ketchum.

Both of them were sitting in a rather luxurious looking office. It was definitely big too, with this big wooden desk and chair at one side of it, with windows just behind it from which you could look at the whole Indigo City, while the rest of the room was filled with different other seats, like two other chairs on the other side of the desk, and sofas on the middle of the room.

The walls itself were decorated with a bunch of pictures that, according to the Professor after Ash had asked, they belonged to the previous Elites and Champions of Kanto.

The fact that Professor Oak himself, alongside who apparently was a way younger Agatha, stood in one of the photos just made Ash look at him as his grandfather figure with a lot more awe.

There were also a few bookshelves in the room, filing at the brim with so many books that honestly made Ash feel a little light-headed.

He had prayed silently to not have to read all of those.

"I'm good" Ash answered as his eyes still roamed into the whole room, just getting a chuckle from Samuel at how curious the boy looked.

"You did good out here, if I may so myself" of course those two weren't alone, for Lorelei's voice also reached Ash, the woman's eyes glued to what looked like a tablet that rested on her hands.

"Indeed" another voice said, this one belonging to none other than Agatha, the Ghost Mistress of Kanto "I guess you aren't as green I thought you were, boy"

Ash just chuckled awkwardly, deciding to take Agatha's comment as a compliment. His mind was still on earlier this same day, his eyes becoming half-lidded as he looked at the ceiling.

To think so much had happened in just a couple of days.

As soon as he had entered the stadium he had become the center of attention, just as expected to be honest, however there had been more than a few surprises expecting him.

Lance had been there of course, standing right at the middle of the field, with Bruno, Agatha and Lorelei right behind him.

His team had been there too, facing the Kanto Elites, apparently waiting for him to move in front of them. That itself had not been that surprising, after all Lorelei had said his Pokemon would be present somehow, but it was the other seven individuals in the arena that had honestly shocked him.

All the Gym Leaders of Kanto had stood present there on the sides, pretty much flanking the Elites and Ash's team. From his first two travelling companions, Misty and Brock, to the army man himself, Lt. Surge, and the royal looking Erika. From the serious looking Ninja Master Koga to the disguised Blaine, and even a confident looking Sabrina.

They all had stood there; their eyes had been focusing on him of course. From smiles to nod of respects, he had received the Gym Leader's silent approval right at that moment.

The rest of the ceremony had been, just like Lorelei said, fairly simple, with Lance doing most of the job.

He had actually revealed an abridged version of Ash's adventure to the world, thankfully skipping his… meetings with some of the rarer Pokemon out there, before finally moving to the final part.

A vow is what Lanced had asked him, one to always protect the people and the region that now proudly called him their Champion. He had no doubted for even a second, and responded with an affirmative full of confidence.

And now, well, he had Lance's cape resting over his shoulder, as the piece of cloth moved across his back until it barely touched the floor.

 _If the people of Kanto recognize this cape, there is no need to say your name. If they do not recognize this cape, they are not worthy of knowing your name. Walk this path of yours with pride, just as the ones before you did._

Those had been the partying words Lance had whispered to him, and even now he could feel the weight those words, alongside this cloth, had.

And now he found himself on the Pokemon League's headquarters of Kanto, with both Lorelei and Agatha. Surprisingly Professor Oak had managed to follow him too, apparently his reputation being more than enough to allow him to talk to him right now.

He would have liked to talk with his mom and friends, but Lorelei had told him there would be time for that soon enough, as there was apparently an urgent matter he had to attend to first. After that he would apparently get a couple of free days to get everything in order before fully starting his duties as Champion.

He wondered what the future would hold, after all this would certainly be different than just traveling around and getting stronger. He was a little worried considering how little he actually knew about what he was meant to do, but Lorelei had assured him that there would be enough time for him to catch up soon enough, after all it wasn't like Kanto was about to face an internal crisis or something like that.

"Where is that man? For someone that likes to impose so much he sure likes to take his time" Agatha growled, taking Ash's out of his thoughts. He looked at the woman with confusion just as Lorelei released a sigh.

He also idly wondered why Bruno wasn't with them, but he decided to ask that later as right now he could sense how tense both Agatha and Lorelei were, although for Agatha it was certainly mostly irritation.

The reason for that was simple. Apparently the important things he had to attend to now was a short meeting with someone, but said person was late. He honestly didn't mind, but it certainly bothered Agatha.

"There's not much we can do right now, Agatha…" surprisingly it was Professor Oak the one that talked to his old friend as he frowned towards her.

"That man likes to do this all the time, he has no respect for us just because he has a fancy title" Agatha ignored Samuel's words and simply growled out a little more, her cane sticking the ground in a show of obvious anger.

However before anyone could say anything else the doors to the office were suddenly opened, an imposing figure walking through it slowly, his whole body covered in a black coat, same color as the hat resting on his head, his eyes roaming the whole room rather quickly until it finally met with everyone's gaze.

Or rather his own, as Ash noticed the man was looking straight at him with cold eyes, no expression showing on his face.

"Sorry for the delay…" even his voice sounded cold and monotonous, Ash concluded, the man slowly walking towards them, forcing them to stand up from their seats "I had other matters to attend to"

"Charming as ever" Agatha said under her breath, and if the man heard her he definitely acted as if he hadn't.

"Lorelei, Agatha, Professor" he said with a hint of politeness on his tone and a small node of his head towards each of them, his gaze moving to each one in order until they once again met the brown ones that belonged to Ash.

"I believe this is the first time we meet, young Champion" the man said, raising his right arm in a gesture that Ash was quick to follow, both their hands meeting in a handshake.

"Giovanni, Viridian City's representative" the man finally introduced himself, even if Lorelei had already told Ash his name, the young trainer nodded just as they ended their handshake.

"I think congratulations are in order" Giovanni continued, his eyes never leaving Ash "Youngest Champion in history… Certainly no small achievement"

"Thank you" Ash answered with a serious tone. He didn't know what but something was definitely off about this man, or maybe it was because he couldn't read anything about him, it was as if his face was made of stone with how little emotion he displayed.

"But for someone so young to become Champion…" the man continued "I wouldn't be surprised if this decision came with some…opposition"

"Are you implying that you oppose to the League's verdict, Giovanni?" it was Lorelei who asked, a sharp edge on her voice as her eyes narrowed towards the man.

"Of course not" the man answered calmly though, his eyes drifting towards Lorelei for just a second "Who am I to judge Champion Lance's decision? However even you must admit that, while impressive, young Ash's age also reveals inexperience"

"I know I'm new at this" everyone's eyes moved towards Ash as soon as he spoke, however the teen's eyes were glued to Giovanni's black ones, the man looking at him as if he could see right at his very own soul "But I won't fail, everyone is putting their trust on me, and I refuse to let any of them down"

Brown eyes matched black one in a staring contest, even if Ash had to admit this man's presence was something else, he had faced the likes of Legendary Pokemon before, so something like this was something he could deal with.

Although he would admit having Pikachu by his side would certainly make it easier, if only he hadn't sent him and Greninja away to keep his mom company.

"Very well" in the end it was Giovanni the one that broke the staring first, his voice being followed by a tip of his hat "I'll hold you on those words, Ash Ketchum"

Then the Viridian City representative took out something from his coat, a small piece of paper, and offered to Kanto's Champion, who took it with a frown, inspecting it as soon as he had it, founding nothing but a number in it.

"If you ever need assistance, feel free to contact me" the man said as he turned around, walking slowly towards the door "I'm sorry our meeting has to be cut short like this, but a busy man's life can be quite hectic, something that I'm sure you'll learn soon enough, Ash Ketchum"

And with those partying words the men simply left, not even directing a look towards the rest of the people in the room. The whole short meeting honestly felt surreal for Ash, as he had never dealt with someone like that man.

"Giovanni, current representative of Viridian City and formed Gym Leader of said place" Lorelei said, her eyes going from the door towards Ash, whose eyes were still glued to the small paper on his hand "A man that would certainly make a powerful ally but… a troublesome enemy too"

"Bah!" Agatha exclaimed with a wave of her hand "Pure bark and no bite. I still don't even know how he became Gym Leader in the first place. I'll say that Gym is better off without him!"

"I guess your opinion on him has nothing to do on how you're tasked with working on that Gym from time to time?" Professor Oak asked, actually earning a glare from Agatha as the older woman tried to hit him with her cane.

"Shut up you good for nothing sack of bones!" Agatha's eyes then moved towards Ash, her voice a lot more serene "I would watch out, that man is no good, even Lance thought the same"

"Indeed" Lorelei confirmed her own thoughts too.

However, in Ash's mind, _no good_ was just the tip of the iceberg.

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Meanwhile_

"So? What do you think of our new Champion, Mr. Giovanni?" a red-headed woman in a white outfit said, sitting on the limousine that would drive her and her boss back to Viridian City. Said boss simply had his eyes closed, apparently deep in thought.

"We could always take care of him if needed" a teal-haired man followed, him also wearing a matching white uniform, his eyes also focused on the former Viridian City's Gym Leader.

"That won't be necessary" finally the man spoke, his black eyes slowly opening "Lance was a problem before, but this one… he's naïve, easily malleable and inexperienced"

"Didn't he help Steven Stone against Team Aqua and Magma though?" the woman asked with a frown, remembering what the reports they had gotten had said about the demise from both teams.

"They were nothing but fools chasing after a dream doomed to end from the start" Giovanni answered as he sent both Archer and Ariana a cold look "For now we'll just observe him"

Both Archer and Ariana shared a look, trying to figure out who would ask the question, and by the way Archer sighed it looked like it would be him.

"And what are your plans for him, sir?" he asked, tensing a little bit once Giovanni's cold black eyes landed on him. He seemed pleased with just giving him a look for a few seconds before answering to the teal-haired man.

"He can be of great use for us, even without knowing it" he said, his eyes gaining a glint just as his voice gained an edge too "But if he truly becomes a problem then, Kanto won't have to worry about having him as its Champion anymore"

And with those words the rest of the trip was filled with silence, however a single phrase kept appearing in their heads just as the future became uncertain.

 _All Hail Team Rocket._

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 **Another slow chapter, but considering how many things I'm changing this fic will have its world building chapters while the plot moves along.**

 **I'm also taking a bit from the manga and the games for this story.**

 **Now something that I wanted to touch about the amount of moves a Pokemon can use. In this fic I will be using the quantity and quality of the moves a Pokemon has as a way to level their strength, besides the basics strength, resistance and speed Pokemon have alongside the strategies their trainer make, so you will see Pokemon with varying amount of moves and changing move sets in this story.**

 **Another thing to point out is the age of the characters. Before I mentioned Ash was 14, however (and I will go back to change his age) his current age is 15 (close to 16 though) as I changed the age kids need to have before starting their journey to 12, and in this story so far Ash has traveled for 3 years. Just for it to not be confusion here are some exact numbers.**

 **-Ash: 15 (close to 16)**

 **-Serena: 15**

 **\- May: 14**

 **\- Gary: 16**

 **\- Misty: 16**

 **\- Tracy: 17**

 **\- Brook: 19**

 **\- Cynthia: 19**

 **\- Diantha: 21**

 **Thank you all for the support you're giving this story of mine, you're the best!**

 **Next Chapter: Empty Seats**


	5. Empty Seats

"Ash" Normal Speech

'Greninja' People's thoughts

 **"Charizard"** Other being's speech

' **Mewtwo'** Other being's thoughts

 **[Pokedex]** Pokedex entries

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to The Pokemon Company, Nintendo, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Empty Seats**

 _The Pokemon League. The ultimate authority when it came to everything related somehow to Pokemon, from small local tournaments to big events like the Contests, to even private projects like the Frontier, the Pokemon League always kept an eye on everything to make sure that the laws set by the League's representatives were always upheld._

 _It had not been like this at the start of course. Before the Pokemon League was simply in charge with maintaining and organizing the Pokemon Gym's functionality, alongside the official tournament and events that were held in their respective region._

 _However it would be years later that the League started gaining not only more fame and acceptance, but also more duties and responsibility that before were only meant for the region's government._

 _From gaining authority over the Police Department to simply becoming the maximum authority of their region, to say that the League had become a powerful entity would be putting it lightly. This wasn't met without retaliation of course, as there were plenty of people against the idea of such an organization suddenly becoming a new government._

 _It would take even more years of debate and struggle, but the matter was finally settled after the League's influence on the regions started to show. One of the biggest complains had been about the person that resided on the top of the League, the Champion, alongside his or her four Elites._

 _After all, there were obvious concerns about only one person holding so much power. Corruption was always possible after all, especially when in a position of power._

 _Agreements and decisions were made, for in the end it was decided that each region officially within the Pokemon League would have its own Champion. Said Champion not only needed to display his prowess in combat by surpassing the challenges that the League established, but also gain the support and acceptance of the Gym Leaders, Elites and of course former Champion of said region._

 _Alongside that the acceptance of civilians was also required, and for this each city or town of a region had a chosen representative that acted on behalf of the people living there when it came to matters related to the government of the League._

 _Most of the times this representatives were the Gym Leaders themselves, but it wasn't rare to see other recognized individuals in this position, such as the famous Professor Samuel Oak acting as Pallet Town's representative._

 _Calling the first few months of a new Champion's regime a 'trial run' wouldn't be incorrect, as if the individual is proven to be insufficient for the responsibilities, it was both the right and the duty of the former Champion to take the reign once again until a more worthy candidate was found._

 _Of course, each region might have different ways of judging their own Champions' worth, but there was no doubt that no higher honor existed than being regarded as the region's own very best._

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Indigo Plateu, League's official headquarters, Kanto_

"Good, you learn faster than I expected" Lorelei said as she nodded approvingly towards the young man that had just pretty much summed up years of history in a few minutes.

"T-thank you…" Ash answered groggily, his form excluding nothing but tiredness as black marks appeared under his eyes, this being the result of him studying things like this for the past two days.

'Lorelei is scary…' that thought pretty much summed up Ash's opinion on the Ice type expert, which considering the amount of information she had drilled into his head in just a couple of days was a pretty reasonable mentality.

Of course he had known about some of this before, as both Steven and Professor Oak had refused to let him go into a journey like this unprepared, but Lorelei had certainly put much more effort on it.

Sure, he questioned the relevancy of some of the information that had now stuck on his head. He wondered when knowing the team the fourth Champion of Kanto had would come in handy, but he wasn't dumb enough to question Lorelei.

He had to admit it though, that Pachirisu sounded way too strong.

But back on track, Ash released a grateful sigh as he stretched his limbs, more than thankful that he had finished with this tutoring session Lorelei had put him through.

That had been how most of the last two days had been for him, studying concepts that were essential for his role apparently, and while stuff like this was definitely not his strongest point, he simply took it as another challenge to overcome.

He would have preferred to at least have Pikachu with him, but Lorelei didn't want him getting distracted by anything, which was why all of his current tem were currently with his mom, who herself was in one of the rooms of the lower floors of the building, after all it had more than enough rooms for any guests either the Champion or Elites decided to bring.

Or at least that's what the Elite thought.

Right now a bunch of the rooms were being used, as he had more than a couple of guests staying here for the time being. His mom, Serena, May, Brock and Misty were the ones staying, while both Professor Oak and Gary had returned to Pallet Town since the Professor couldn't leave the lab alone for much time, and Gary wanted to accompany him.

Misty was set to leave soon too though, as she had duties as Cerulean City's Gym Leader. That thought brought a sad smile to the young man's face; after all he had enjoyed the Water-type expert's support.

Not that she had been the only Gym Leader to give him her voice of aproval though. Brock had been a given, but what had surprised him was when the rest of Kanto's Gym Leaders had come yesterday to speak to him before leaving.

" _Heh, I really want that rematch now more than ever, kid"_ Lt. Surge was definitely an interesting man, however both his words and the palm on the back he had received had told him that he had the military man on his side.

" _You saved my Gym, my friends and I. Celadon's Gym will always be an ally to you, Ash"_ He didn't know what had left him more in awe about Erika, if her words or the awe-inspiring smile she had given him.

" _Hm, could definitely be worse. Hope the job isn't too hot for you!"_ Blane's words had sounded hard, but anyone that knew the man would have felt the respect dripping from his voice. He could have omitted the pun though.

There were still two Gym Leaders Ash had yet to speak to, though, and those were Ninja Master Koga, and Psychic Mistress Sabrina, and if Ash had to be honest he was a little bit nervous about meeting the latter.

Not that they had a bad relationship or anything. They parted ways years ago in pretty good terms; however it was hard to forget how she had pretty much turned his friends into dolls.

If his Frogadier hadn't evolved while trying to capture a Ghost type to face Sabrina, he doubted that he would have defeated her.

He wondered what they wanted though. The other Gym Leaders had been fine with just a short talk, so the fact that this two requested for more time confused him.

Oh well, not like thinking about it too much was going to help him, after all if there was a thing he had to really think about it then it would have to be…

"Bruno is really leaving, huh" he muttered as he looked at the massive window that the office had, disappointment shinning in his eyes.

"Indeed" he heard Lorelei sighing behind him just as the woman walked towards him "To think he would go with Lance… While I understand his decision it definitely is a troublesome one"

Yesterday Bruno had dropped the bomb on them that Lance had offered him a position as one of the Elites of Johto, and that he would be accepting the proposal.

Before both Kanto and Johto shared both their Champion and Elites, something that no other region had ever done. The only reason this was possible was because of how close both regions were, and how much sway Lance had as a person.

To call him one of the greatest Champions to ever exist wouldn't be that much of an exaggeration.

However now that he had lost his position of Champion of Kanto, Lance had apparently decided to separate the government of both Johto and Kanto, to make sure that there would be no problems with the chains of commands.

That of course meant Lance needed to recruit a new group of Elites that would represent Johto, and apparently Bruno was one of them.

He had to admit, he had felt quite distressed at hearing that the man was leaving his post here. He honestly thought that it was because of him. Was the idea of working under him so unappealing to Bruno?

Luckily his worries had been for naught, as the man had been quick to calm him.

'A part of me regrets that I won't be able to work alongside you, Ash Ketchum, but the only reason I became an Elite in the first place was because of Lance, and if he's offering me to keep fighting by his side then the only answer I can give him is a yes'

Losing the man was definitely a blow to the region, but there wasn't really anything he could do to force the man to stay.

"This leaves us with only two Elites right now…" Lorelei commented, and Ash knew how much of a problem that could be.

At least Agatha and Lorelei were staying, and for that he was more than grateful. Speaking of the Ghost expert, she was right now dealing with everyone that wanted an interview with him, as apparently she knew how to handle those kinds of things.

"Getting two more Elites should be our focus now, right?" Ash asked as he turned around to look towards the older red-head, who just showed him a complicated expression.

"That would certainly be one of the things we should handle first, yes, but… the position of Elite is one of the highest a trainer can ever achieve, only surpassed by the Champion, so we must be careful when deciding who could take that position, after all their performance will reflect on both the region, and on yourself, Ash"

"Right now only one more Elite is needed" she continued "While having four Elites and one Champion is the norm, we can easily function with only three of us alongside you, just like with Lance"

Their conversation was brought to an end though, for a sudden knock was heard at the door, getting both Ash and Lorelei's attention. The door was then opened slowly just before a head poked inside, said head belonging to no one else than Nurse Joy.

Yeah, even this building had a nurse, although right now she was working more like a secretary though.

"Sorry to interrupt" she said in a respectful tone "But Ms. Sabrina wanted to know when she would be able to meet master Ash"

Now _that_ was something that had caught the young man off guard at first. Everyone in this building treated him with a level of respect he had never experienced before, especially when they referred to him as _Master_.

He honestly didn't felt comfortable with someone referring to him like that, so he was glad that neither Lorelei nor Agatha did it. He tried to convince everyone else to stop, but they just refused to listen to him apparently.

His eyes went to Lorelei though, pretty much asking for silent permission to handle this matter now, as a sort of break. The woman simply looked at him before nodding with a sigh, her eyes then landing on the pink-haired nurse.

"Tell her she can come right now if she's able" Lorelei answered, getting a nod from Joy just before she left, the Ice-type expert then looking towards Ash "I'll prepare a list of possible candidates for the position of Elite, for you to decide later"

"Thank you, for everything I mean" he said with a grateful smile as he rubbed the back of his head "I don't know what I would have done if you left too to be honest"

"You sell yourself too short, Ash" the woman answered with a smile "Sure, right now you're inexperienced, but all of us were at your position at some point. As long as you strive to become the best you can be, I guarantee that you will no longer need me in the future"

"Eh? That's impossible. I'm even starting to think it was you who ran everything instead of Lance!" the black-haired trainer joked with a grin, however his expression became one of confusions once he noticed the sudden gloomy expression that had appeared in the Elite's face.

It was almost as if a black cloud had suddenly appeared above her.

"Please" she suddenly said as she put her hands on his shoulders, getting a yelp from him "You must become someone that can handle all of this by himself. Promise me that"

"Y-yes of course, I promise!" he answered, not knowing what else to do in this situation.

"Good, good" she muttered as she let him go, although she kept murmuring stuff under her breath, but Ash was just able to hear something about Lance and slave driver.

He decided not to press the matter just as the door of the room was opened, the person entering being a woman that if Ash hadn't see her already he would have never thought she was the same Gym Leader he faced years ago.

Her previous long hair was now shorter, barely reaching her shoulder, with her wearing a pink tank top that showed her midriff and white long pants alongside a black belt. The most eye-catching part would have to be the bracelets on her wrists though.

It wasn't only her appearance that had changed however; even the aura around her was completely different. While the first time he had faced her she had a cold, threatening feeling around her, now she was sporting a small smile as she confidently walked towards him. She definitely looked more confident and happy if he had to put it in words.

There was even a glint of mischievousness shining on her eyes that honestly made Ash a little bit nervous.

"Lorelei" she suddenly spoke in a respectful tone as she inclined her head towards who was pretty much her superior, who simply nodded in return.

Sabrina's confident expression came back as soon as her eyes landed on Ash again though, her eyes going up and down at him while one of her hands rested on her hip, honestly making him feel a little bit nervous.

"It's been a long time, Ash" she said with a smile, earning an awkward chuckle from the younger trainer.

"Y-yeah, it's been a while" he answered, not knowing what was so funny from his response but it got a chuckle from the Psychic-expert.

"I'm not the only one that really wanted to see you though" she shot back, just earning a frown from him. He looked behind her, not finding anyone. Who was she talking about then?

His question was answered once he was suddenly lifted into the air, a surprised yelp escaping his mouth as he moved wildly into the air, trying to stop whatever it was that was making him float.

"W-what the hell?" he said as he suddenly heard a chuckle from behind him, getting him to turn his head around, just in time to see a figure that he recognized immediately appearing out of thin air, a big smile present on its face.

"G-Gengar?!" Ash exclaimed in shock, not expecting to see the dual Ghost/Poison type. Was it Agatha's? No, that couldn't be, this one didn't have the same overbearing aura hers had. In fact this felt a lot friendlier.

" **Geh Geh"** the Kanto native Pokemon exclaimed as his tongue suddenly shot out of his mouth, and with a quick movement he licked Ash's face, leaving the boy with a horrified expression on his face as saliva dripped from it, his hat falling to the ground.

He could even hear the giggles from down below, and he didn't have to wonder from who they were.

"Please put him down now" Lorelei said as she looked towards Sabrina "these kinds of jokes are inappropriate, especially for someone of your standard"

"Hai hai" Sabrina answered, although she was obviously trying to hide her smirk. She was about to tell Gengar to put Ash down, but a sudden watery object flew from across the room and hit Gengar straight on the head, the surprise being enough for the Ghost/Poison dual type to drop Ash, who pretty much landed on his butt.

"Thank you, Greninja" the young man said as he passed his hand through his face, trying to get the saliva out. In response everyone else in the room looked at from where the attack was launched, their eyes watching as, from the shadows at the corner of the room, the dual Water/Dark Pokemon emerged, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes were narrowed at the grinning Gengar.

"Since when…!?" Lorelei whispered with a frown, while Sabrina simply frowned in silence, her eyes narrowed towards Ash's ace; after all even with her abilities she had not been able to sense him at all.

Sure, they were being suppressed right now, but still…

"Yeah" Ash said as he slowly stood up while picking his hat "He's been here for an hour already, I felt him when he entered the room. He likes to do that sometimes, you know, taking the ninja aspect way too seriously"

'Felt?' both women thought as their eyes went from Greninja to Ash, with Sabrina just sighing, thinking that she shouldn't be so surprised after seeing what they were capable off, while Lorelei vowed to ask more details later.

"Wait, you came all the way here to show me your Gengar? I mean not that I mind but…" Ash said, obviously confused, just as the Gengar floated down to stand besides Sabrina, who just looked at him surprised before chuckling a little bit.

"Ash, please tell me you haven't forgotten this little fellow. He's been excited to meet you again after years!" she said with a smile, making Ash blink owlishly at her before focusing his gaze at the Gengar.

At seeing this Gengar moved his tongue out of his mouth before chuckling, getting Ash's eyes to wide in realization. Could it be?

"Haunter? You evolved?" the young man said with a big smile, finally recognizing his old Pokemon.

This got a louder crackle from Gengar, who then moved to float around Ash.

"He evolved the same day you left actually. He's been a key member on my gym every since, after all no one expects a Gengar in a Psychic-type gym" the smirk present on Sabrina's face told everyone how much she enjoyed surprising the challengers with that.

"Sorry for not recognizing you sooner!" Ash apologized with his hands clasped in front of him, honestly feeling bad about not noticing who the Gengar was, but in response the Shadow Pokemon simply waved his hand in front of him while laughing.

In fact the only reason Gengar wasn't grabbing and messing around with his former trainer was because of the glare Greninja, who had moved closer to the group, was giving him.

They never got along in the short time they were in the same team after all.

"I trust you didn't come here for just a reunion, though" Lorelei suddenly said, earning everyone's attention "You did request extra time after all, so certainly there must be more than just this"

The pointed stare Lorelei was giving Sabrina told her that she didn't like to waste time. Maybe in another moment she wouldn't have minded, but there were plenty of things Ash had to do now, so there wasn't time just for this, at least in her opinion.

"Hmph, indeed" Sabrina answered, her carefree expression suddenly turning serious, her eyes sharp as she looked straight at Ash "Let me start with this then…"

As soon as she said that she pretty much bowed in front of the young man, her upper body perfectly lowering as she closed her eyes.

Gengar moved besides her immediately and pretty much imitated his trainer.

"Let me first thank you formerly, for everything that you have done for me and my family" no one could deny just how sincere her voice sounded, her words earning a surprised look from Ash and interested one from Lorelei.

It looked like there was some information she didn't know about her new Champion, as the reports she had on him didn't mention anything special between him and Sabrina.

"B-but I didn't really do much…" Ash answered, not liking when someone acted so formal with him this way, specially when he didn't fell like he deserved it. He hadn't done much for Sabrina after all; most of it had been her dad, Gengar and even Greninja.

"You shouldn't sell yourself so short, _Champion_ " Sabrina continued as she raised her body, giving Ash a grateful smile "If it wasn't for you I would have never patched things up with my family, or even met this funny little guy" as she this her eyes landed on Gengar before going back to Ash "That's a debt I will never be able to repay, but mark my words, Saffron City's Gym will always be on your side, that is the least I can do"

"Thank you!" Ash said with sincere happiness, glad to have even more support. He extended his hands towards the older girl, which she grasped, both of the smiling at the other.

Meanwhile, Gengar tried to do the same with Greninja, but the only thing he got was the pummel of a black kunai hitting him on his head.

For her part, Lorelei just watched the scene in front of her in honest surprise. Getting the support from the Gym Leaders, alongside the representatives of the cities was always one of the hardest things to do for a Champion, but for Ash already have the support from so many people, both from the inside and the outside of the region…

'I guess I really made the right choice…' the red-head thought as she adjusted her glasses, a small smile appearing on her lips, after all she too had been offered a position under Lance in Johto, after everything had settled here though, but she had refused, after all she had been the first one that had faced Ash months ago and lost, the only reason the other Elites had faced him being because he got her approval.

How could she abandon someone who she had found worthy like this? She saw more than just potential in Ash, and she was going to see how far he could go until the very end.

"There is another thing, though…" she said as they broke their handshake with an even more serious tone, which got Ash tense just as Lorelei raised an eyebrow in question "As you already know, Saffron City is Kanto's biggest city, one of the reason for that is because of the Silph Corporation that chose it as it headquarters…"

Yes, Ash knew that much, although he didn't really know just how much influence the Silph Corporation had on the region, he remembered seeing the massive building when he had visited the city.

Not that he had paid much to attention to it though, as he had other urgent matters to attend to at the time.

He would have to ask Lorelei more about the matter.

However, even if he had known more about the Silph Corporation, he could not have predicted what Sabrina was about to reveal, for her words were enough to even send one of Kanto's Elite into shock.

"I believe they're working together with Team Rocket"

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 _Later, that night_

As a sigh escaped his lips, young Ash moved through the corridors of the building, his head low as a troubled glint formed itself in his gaze, his mind barely paying attention to where he was even going.

There were a lot of things in his mind, things that worried him a lot to be honest. He was glad Lorelei had allowed him to go check on his mother and friends, which had certainly helped him to calm down, but still…

He wasn't even able to hide it properly, after all his mom, Serena and May had all asked him what had him so upset. He knew he wasn't the best when it came to hide stuff, but he would have liked to not go around worrying everyone like that.

At least he had been able to convince them that nothing was wrong, even if he was sure they hadn't bought it, at least they hadn't pressure him into telling them or anything, not like he could in the first place, he knew just how delicate a situation like this could be.

'Team Rocket, huh…' he whispered as the cold wind of the night assaulted him, the moon shining brightly as he didn't even notice his feet had dragged him outside of the building, his mind still a mess of thoughts.

Maybe it had been because of how frequent he had dealt with Jessie, James and Meowth, but Ash had never honestly felt threatened with Team Rocket. He had been ignorant to how much of a threat they really were, which he now had a glint of it thanks to both Lorelei and Sabrina.

Even after facing both Team Magma and Team Aqua, he didn't really felt scared towards them. Angry yes, after all it was hard not to with how they threatened everyone with their crazy ideas by using the power of Legends.

If someone knew just how much destruction Legendary Pokemon could bring, it was definitely him.

But even so at the time he had known what to do, to simply stop their plans alongside Steven. Even if the opponents were beings that could reshape the land and sea at will, it was at least something he could get behind.

Sure it had not been easy, and he and Steven had been close to die more than a few times, but at least the objective had been clear enough.

But right now? He had no idea how to proceed, especially considering how not even Lance had been able to deal with that organization properly.

An organization whose power didn't came from legends or weapons. No, an organization whose power came from the hold they had in society itself, one that could be controlling everything behind the scene and that you would never know about it.

The fact that even after all this years the identity of its leader was still unknown pretty much said how much secrecy the organization itself had.

How was he going to deal with something like that? If what Sabrina had said was correct then at this point Team Rocket's influence was bigger than what even Lance had expected, or at least that's what Lorelei had told him.

He released a snort, to think that those three were part of something like that… he hadn't told Lorelei about them, but now he was definitely going to interrogate thoroughly if he ever saw them.

No, not if, _when_ , those three had followed him for years already. Heck, he would honestly be surprised if they didn't jump on him right now.

The fact that he suddenly felt a presence behind him almost made him wonder if they had heard his thoughts or something, but as soon as he turned around, his eyes widened as they met those of someone he certainly didn't expect to be meeting now.

"Sorry for interrupting your night, Champion" the cold, calm voice of one Ninja Master Koga penetrated the silent night, his gaze set on the younger male as the cloth he had on his neck moved with the wind.

"Koga…" Ash said in surprise, his body tensing at the sudden appearance of the Gym Leader. He was the only Gym Leader that he had yet to talk to, but he definitely didn't expect to see him at this hour.

In fact he was so caught up on his thoughts that he had not realized how he was now behind the building he had left. There was a big area around it, after all it was normally used for demonstrations, so a big enough space for battles was necessary.

"Please don't be alarmed, I simply came to talk" the Poison-type expert said, easily noticing how on edge the younger man was.

"Sorry…" Ash answered with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head. Koga was a Gym Leader, being wary of him was way too paranoid, even for him "I just have some stuff in my head"

"I can't imagine the burden that now relies on your shoulders" Koga answered with an understanding nod, his eyes then drifting away from Ash to look right behind him "But to have such a loyal partner by your side… no wonder even Lance fell against you two"

Ash's eyes widened once more, understanding what Koga was implying. He guessed he shouldn't be that surprised, after all Koga's title was that of Ninja Master, but still, this was the first time someone had been able to detect his partner like that.

"Greninja, its fine…" he spoke loudly enough, not even having to turn around to know that the Water/Dark dual type was now standing behind him. He couldn't honestly remember when Greninja had started doing that, although he did remember trying to break that habit of tailing him like this out of him.

Suffice to say, it didn't work.

"What did you want to talk about?" this time he asked the Gym Leader, wondering what could be so important that he would come and get him at the middle of the night.

Surely it could have waited for tomorrow, right?

"I understand this might not be the best time" was this man a mind-reader too? Ash wouldn't be surprised if he was to be honest, or was he really that easy to read? "However I believe the sooner this is done the quicker we'll be able to act accordingly"

And then, just like how Sabrina had done so early, Koga bowed in front of him, proving that Ash would never get used to this as his eyes widened at the action.

Seriously what was with people treating him like that? He understood a little bit yes, but this was too much!

However the words that escaped Koga's mouth couldn't have been more different than those that Sabrina, and the rest of the Gym Leaders, had shared with him

"I wish to resign my position as Gym Leader"

 **AGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA**

 **What is this, another chapter with no action? I know and I'm sorry for that, however Ash learning how to handle the responsibilities he now has, alongside learning how to deal with things in a different way is a big part of this story that I don't wish to rush. Next chapter will have some action though!**

 **I guess this chapter works better as a way to set up the incoming chapters of the story and for the world around it, as Ash is going to have to deal with the changes being done to the rooster of Gym Leaders and Elites, while Team Rocket looms in the horizon.**

 **Also as I have already implied many times, the events that lead up to the start of this fic are different from canon in some aspects. More of this will be explained later.**

 **And yes, Sabrina's description is taken away directly from her HG/SS design.**

 **Thank you all for the support this story is having, feel free to leave a review because boy do I love those! (This is not me begging for reviews of course…I think)**

 **Next Chapter: Fuchsia City's Ninja Clan**


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